As per reports, IPC Healthcare was soon to get acquired by Team Heath Holdings for a sum of US$ 1.6 billion – incorporating debts to expand in the business of providing doctor staffing to hospitals and other medical facilities.
INSIGHT: It’s an organization that provides medical staff to patients who need extra follow up or have been hospitalized.
If it was to merge with Team Health, then the deal could definitely have provided a more wider services’ set as the U.S. government reimburses health-care providers based on the outcomes of treatment rather than individual procedures.
UPDATE: The overall all-cash transaction was valued at US$ 80.25/share which would have represented a 37% premium to IPC’s closing share price once.
According to TeamHealth Senior Vice President Patricia Ball, the more diverse network of services will put the company in a better position to work under a value-based payment model.
TeamHealth recently began participating in phase II of Medicare’s Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative, which rewards providers for outcomes rather than volume.
During a phone interview with Modern Healthcare on Tuesday, Ball had stated:
“This acquisition creates a really wonderful physician-focused organization now. We already had a hospital medicine service line, and this lets us grow that.”
In contrary to this, some analysts also had felt there might be more to Team Health’s acquisition of IPC than mere growth strategy.
As per Baird Equity Research Senior Research Analyst Whit Mayo in an investment note:
“Our gut says something else is going on, and we truly wonder if TMH (TeamHealth) didn’t receive a bid and respond with this deal.”
When asked about that possibility, Ball vehemently had denied the suggestion:
“We were not in play.”
