Latest / The Strategy Catalyst Dispatch / The Strategist in Brief: April 3, 2025

Transcript

The Strategist in Brief: April 3, 2025 · The Strategy Catalyst Dispatch

• 0:00
  This is the strategist in brief for April 3rd, 2025.
• 0:05
  Our first market scan covers the news that hospital at home and home-based care operators.
• 0:10
  Dispatch, health and medically home have agreed to merge with the deal.
• 0:14
  Expected to close by midyear.
• 0:17
  The merger would combine medically homes health system oriented product with dispatches payer oriented product.
• 0:24
  Stronger ties to payers could be a boon for health system partners, but it also raises questions about where the combined company's loyalties will lie.
• 0:32
  Their combined scale could make their models more appealing to payers and make it easier to reach a financial breakeven.
• 0:39
  Medically homes model faces greater risks from uncertainty over the Federal Hospital at home waiver.
• 0:45
  Considering dispatches greater size and valuation, the deal could be interpreted as an acquisition rather than a true merger.
• 0:53
  In other news, Stanford Health is partnering with midwife provider ULA to open at least two clinics in Connecticut.
• 1:01
  The locations will offer full service, gynecology and pregnancy care, including access to care navigators and virtual support.
• 1:09
  The new clinics will offer Stanford Health an opportunity to acquire patients and grow market share in a region with a slightly declining birth rate.
• 1:17
  Midwifery is a growing segment of the healthcare industry, but providers face challenges with reimbursement and regulatory differences at the state level.
• 1:27
  In a third piece of news, private equity owned firms are consolidating providers of services for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• 1:35
  According to a report by a watchdog advocacy group, the IDD market is growing and highly fragmented, making it right for PE led disruption.
• 1:46
  The report raises questions about these providers, quality and regulatory compliance, which in turn raises questions about their ability to receive discharged patients.
• 1:55
  However, it's unclear if PE and providers are truly worse than the non-profit providers they're displacing.
• 2:03
  For our final piece of news, OptumRx is shifting to a cost-based payment model for pharmacy reimbursement and eliminating reauthorization requirements for dozens of drugs.
• 2:14
  These changes strike us as PR moves intended to head off political and market shifts that threaten their dominant position.
• 2:21
  The switch to cost-based reimbursement introduces greater transparency for health system owned pharmacy, but it also raises questions around financial sustainability, three 40 B implications and administrative complexity.
• 2:36
  That concludes this week's edition.
• 2:38
  Be sure to check out the full version on the web@hmacademy.com.
• 2:42
  Thanks for listening.