The top 6 RCM M&A transactions for 1H 2023

This year is shaping up to be a busy season for mergers and acquisitions in the revenue cycle management (“RCM”) space.  With this in mind, we’ve rated this year’s reported transactions and have identified the top acquisitions, by month, for YTD 2023.

The ranking of “Top RCM Acquisition” is based on an analysis of various factors including the following: importance of the acquisition from a larger industry perspective; anticipated combined revenue; and materiality of the acquisition from the perspective of the buyer.  At least one party to the transaction must be based in the U.S. and the majority of the seller’s revenues must be generated from U.S.-based health care systems or practices.  

Top RCM Acquisition - January 2023:

Medusind Solutions (“Medusind”), based in Miami, Florida and maintaining a dozen offices in the U.S. and India, was acquired by Alpine Investors through a leveraged buyout.  Medusind delivers its practice management platform and back-office RCM services to clients throughout the country leveraging its India-based team and additional resources in the United States. Medusind has been acquiring competitors since 2015, with its initial acquisition of Miami-based Avisena.  Medusind reportedly employs nearly 4,000 team members who enable it to deliver its back-office services.

Top RCM Acquisition - February 2023:

Ventra Health, a tech-enabled RCM company, acquired Deras Global Services, a Philippines-based provider of RCM services for hospital-based physician specialties.  Deras provides back-office RCM support to U.S. based companies and has been working with Ventra for the last decade. In early 2021, Ventra Health reportedly raised $80 million in debt to support its continued growth after its acquisition of Abeo Management in late 2020.   

A close runner-up for the slot of the top February RCM acquisition was another acquisition of an offshore company, namely AGS Health’s acquisition of an India-based patient access outsourcing business unit of Availity.  The acquisition is intended to expand AGS’ artificial intelligence platform's capabilities in order to improve accuracy and streamline patient access operations.

Top RCM Acquisition - March 2023:

Chartis, an Illinois-based healthcare advisory group, acquired revenue cycle consultant Chi-Matic of Verona, Wisconsin. Chartis supports more than 600 clients including providers, payers, health services organizations and technology companies. Chi-Matic promotes itself as a revenue cycle optimization firm and assists Epic-based healthcare organizations, and other clients, in transforming their revenue cycle through technology process improvement and increased staff efficiency. 

Top RCM Acquisition - April 2023:

Sagility, LLC (formerly HGS Healthcare LLC), a Colorado-based company with more than 30,000 employees across 5 countries and revenues of over $500 million, acquired Arizona-based Devlin Consulting, Inc.  The acquisition combines Sagility's service offerings for clinical operations, member engagement, provider solutions, payment integrity, claims cost containment, and analytics with Devlin Consulting's technology platform.

A close runner up for the top April RCM transaction was the acquisition of another Arizona-based company, E&A Medical Billing Service and Software, by Kovo HealthTech Corporation (TSXV: KOVO) a Canada-based owner of RCM businesses in the U.S.

Top RCM Acquisition - May 2023:

Aspirion Health Resources, based in Columbus, Ohio, acquired FIRM Revenue Cycle Management, a Nevada-based corporation.  FIRM is an attorney-driven RCM company that serves hospital clients throughout the U.S.  Aspirion was acquired by Linden Capital Partners and Varsity Healthcare Partners in 2022.  Aspirion has acquired multiple denial management companies during the last 6 years including ARx out of Franklin, Tennessee, and New Jersey-based Liberty Billing.

Top RCM Acquisition - June 2023:

Elevate Patient Financial Solutions, Inc., a Texas-based corporation, acquired Revenue Masters, a Florida LLC.  Revenue Masters’ service offerings include several SaaS and technology-enabled services that are designed to help customers maximize revenue and ensure compliance with pricing and cost transparency regulations.  Elevate is a former subsidiary of Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. (NYSE:MD) that was acquired by The Edgewater Funds and Frazier Healthcare Partners in 2019.  Elevate has acquired multiple RCM adjacent businesses throughout the country, including Maryland-based Deco Recovery and Mississippi-based RevClaims.