Healthcare executives are optimistic about their organizations' financial performance in the year ahead, according to recent survey by Capital One.
More than 250 senior healthcare executives responded to the survey, which asked about their outlooks for their individual organizations and the industry as a whole for 2016. The survey was conducted shortly before the J.P. Morgan 34th Annual Healthcare Conference, which is being held Jan. 11-14 in San Francisco.
Here are six findings from the survey.
1. Forty-one percent of healthcare industry executives expect mergers and acquisitions to be their preferred growth strategy for this year, outpacing organic growth through revitalizing and updating existing offerings.
2. Sixty percent of respondents expect stronger financial performance from their businesses in 2016, while 35 percent anticipate performance that equals last year's results.
3. Only 5 percent of respondents expect weaker financial performance in 2016 than last year.
4. Eighty-nine percent of respondents anticipate their capital needs will be the same or higher this year than in 2015.
5. Respondents said implementing the Affordable Care Act and regulatory scrutiny are the top two challenges facing the healthcare industry in 2016.
6. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they expect to benefit from the ACA in 2016, while 38 percent said they anticipate no benefit from the law this year.
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