More than half (58 percent) of senior healthcare executives at organizations that recently merged or acquired another organization said they discovered a cybersecurity problem with the newly added company after the deal was completed, according to a survey commissioned by West Monroe Partners, a management consulting firm.
The company released results from a survey of 100 dealmakers from private equity firms and healthcare organizations May 30 to learn how they're strategizing in healthcare M&A.
Here are seven survey insights:
1. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they plan to pursue alliances, partnerships and joint ventures in the next 12 to 18 months.
2. Nearly every respondent (93 percent) said technology adds to the complexity of healthcare M&A — 36 percent said the biggest challenge is the fast pace of technology change.
3. The plurality of respondents (41 percent) cited revenue and profit growth as the No. 1 metric driving their M&A strategy.
4. The top two benefits of healthcare partnerships, alliances and joint ventures cited by respondents were access to outside expertise and technology (57 percent) and lower risk profiles (43 percent).
5. Respondents were asked to pick the top healthcare technologies or software that will make acquisitions more attractive. They cited mobile technology (49 percent), data analytics (37 percent) and blockchain (30 percent).
6. Respondents ranked digital health (26 percent) as the most attractive acquisition target, followed by biotech and pharmaceutical companies (20 percent) and home health, long-term care and hospice (16 percent).
7. Regarding cybersecurity in healthcare acquisitions, respondents are most concerned with a lack of personnel with deep knowledge of cybersecurity issues (54 percent), vulnerability to insider breaches (48 percent) and lack of robust cybersecurity policies and procedures (36 percent).
Click here to download the report.
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