Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health is always on the lookout for possible M&A activity, according to a senior executive within the health system featured on a Nov. 20 Becker's podcast.
"We are constantly looking for mergers, acquisitions and changing our footprint within the nation," Kathryn Carpenter, vice president of sourcing, contracting clinical strategy and implementation and supply chain, said during the podcast. "We're getting much better at mergers as we change our footprint within the nation."
While the implementation of such a growth strategy may be difficult to do geographically because of the group's spread over multiple states, the appointment of Wright Lassiter III Aug.1 could be a gamechanger, Ms. Carpenter said.
"We're very excited about what Wright has to bring to the organization just at the time when we need it," she said. "He's promised that we are going to continue to grow in the right places with the right quality to provide those that care to those patients."
Ms. Carpenter also discussed supply contracts with Chinese providers, the importance of focusing on population health and balancing care provision with producing revenue at a time of increased labor costs.
She also focused on the need for greater transparency in the healthcare industry across providers, payers and suppliers. Such increased transparency will be hard to follow through on as there are many forces committed to the status quo, she said, but that approach could eventually change the industry.
"I think we're at a real crossroads in healthcare," she said. "How do we create healthy competition so that our patients can choose?"