Independent hospitals that may have held out hope that 30 million newly insured customers could have cushioned their financial fallout may now be more willing to affiliate with a hospital operator, which are able to use their size to increase efficiency and drive down costs, according to the report.
Nonprofit rural and urban hospitals with large numbers of patients covered by government payors are most likely to be acquired because they are under the most financial strain, according to the report.
Read BusinessWeek’s report on hospital acquisitions.
