The mergers and acquisitions market in revenue cycle management experienced 47 transactions last year, with more than $3.2 billion exchanged in RCM transactions, according to a report from Greenberg Advisors, a boutique investment bank that specializes in the RCM sector.
Greenberg Advisors, which advises owners and investors in M&A transactions involving technology and service vendors to the revenue cycle, released the report on Thursday.
The report highlights key trends and statistics in RCM M&A using information gathered from Greenberg Advisors' transaction database. Below are seven findings.
1. Activity spiked in the third quarter, in which 40 percent of deals occurred and 80 percent of total revenue changed hands.
2. Around 96 percent of sellers offered at least one back-end revenue cycle service or IT solution, compared to 53 percent of sellers that offered one front-end service or solution.
3. IT companies accounted for 61 percent of sellers last year.
4. Sellers included revenue cycle service and IT companies throughout the revenue cycle circuit, from patient scheduling and access to bad debt collections.
5. Service providers saw the greatest buyer demand in consulting, billing and coding areas.
6. Technology providers saw the greatest buyer demand for analytics and EHR/EMR products, as well as IT consulting.
7. Last year, 70 percent of sellers generated less than $50 million in revenue. This suggests companies raking in revenue within the lower-middle market drive the majority of M&A volume and buyer interest.