‘Bigger Is Better’ Consolidation Mentality Sweeps Through Health Care Industry

"Pretty much anywhere you go in this economy, whether it's eyeglasses or beer or automobiles or airplanes, if you ask the right questions, you'll find it's much more concentrated than it was before," said Phil Longman, the policy director of the company that ran the report on consolidation. "That's true in healthcare, including all of its component parts." In other news from the health industry, two state attorneys general launch an investigation into Quest's data breach.

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Consolidation Goes Beyond Usual Players
Consolidation in the health system and health insurance industries has been a focus for years. But a new report sheds light on how the "bigger is better" mantra has taken hold in companies that make syringes, X-ray machines or other healthcare products. The report, prepared by the Open Markets Institute using data from IBISWorld, shows a small handful of companies dominate their respective markets in certain healthcare sectors that tend to get less of a spotlight than their payer and provider counterparts. The largest three pharmacy and drugstore companies represent 67% of market share and the largest two ambulance manufacturers represent 83% of market share. Just two dialysis providers dominate 76% of market share. (Bannow, 6/10)

Modern Healthcare: State AGs Investigate Breach Of Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp
Two Democratic state attorneys general have launched an investigation into a massive data breach at American Medical Collection Agency, a company that provides billing collection services to healthcare organizations. LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics last week said that the data breach affected nearly 8 million and 12 million of their patients, respectively. AMCA provides services to LabCorp and one of Quest's revenue-cycle contractors, Optum360. (Cohen, 6/10)

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