Health care ‘transformation’ drives infusion market 

YARMOUTH, Maine – As value-based care gains steam, home infusion companies are increasingly making moves to bulk up their size and offerings, say M&A analysts. 

“All of these folks are positioning to be a solution for value-based care, and no one is sure how it will shake out, but they know they need to partner with someone to get bigger in order to be attractive to payers,” said Pat Clifford, managing director, home medical equipment, for The Braff Group. 

The biggest, most recent example of this: Option Care Health, which in May said it would merge with Amedisys, a provider of home health, hospice and high-acuity care. Other examples include KabaFusion, which has a new joint venture with Memorial Hermann Health System. 

The market will see “more marriages like this,” says Michael Patton, managing director at Provident Healthcare Partners. 

“(Option Care Health and Amedisys) are not the most logical thing you’d think of – home health and hospice and home infusion coming together – but when you think about it through the lens of where the market is going as it relates to bundled payments, it does make sense that they come under one roof,” he said. 

With an increasing focus on the home and other alternate sites of care, the focus is on growing patient census and building payer relationships across the continuum of care, says Jonathan Sadock, managing partner with Paragon Ventures. 

“This evolution is transforming the health care industry – a welcome advancement for all concerned,” he said. “Providers, regardless of size, should be looking to open more doors with payers and build on relationships within the broader markets, including home care, infusion and professional services.”  

While the large deals garner the most attention, there’s still potential for smaller deals to happen as the industry continues to consolidate, says Patton. 

“It’s still very fragmented as far as the overall landscape,” said Patton. “I wish there was more scale, but you see still a ton of $2 million, $3 million, $5 million providers out there.”