Current trends in hospital mergers and acquisitions.

Healthcare reform will impact hospital consolidation in three key areas: Payment rates will decrease, indirectly encouraging consolidation by forcing hospitals to find new ways to reduce costs and increase negotiating clout with suppliers and payers. The cost of doing business will increase as hospitals spend more on compliance, technology, and physician employment. The ACO model will encourage hospital network formation by rewarding integrated healthcare systems that can reduce costs and improve quality.

Investing in health care--a story of political clout, successful niches, and recurring cycles.

Investment in health care companies can be a good bet over the long term for a number of reasons, particularly in certain sectors within health care. Investment in other health care sectors is much riskier. This article briefly overviews investment considerations for several different sectors within health care.