Women’s health continues to make headlines as nontraditional investors enter the market to reinvent the care services continuum. Private equity (PE) and investment funding for women’s health totaled $1.3 billion in 2021, highlighting widespread interest in revolutionizing how, when, and where women receive care.
Major Focus Areas for PE in Women’s Health
- Technology: The companies leading the investment boom are streamlining and supporting women’s health through a variety of technology-enabled innovations like femtech, telehealth, digital marketing, branding and communications, EHRs, remote screening and monitoring, AI, and CRM. Technology is changing how, when, and where women receive care by improving accessibility, customizing the patient experience, and connecting them to new services.
- Provider Integration: Consolidation between hospitals, health systems, and provider groups will continue, and women’s health services are not immune. JVs, IPAs, CINs, employment, start-ups, and venture capital are creating affiliation opportunities and overcoming challenges as the provider landscape shifts.
- Integrated, Coordinated Care across a Woman’s Life Span: Organizations are recognizing that while maternity care may be a woman’s first interaction with the healthcare system, it won’t be her last. Building service lines and systems through EHRs, CRM, and clinical standardization will help to align providers, service lines, and systems.
- Consumer-Centric Models of Care: Start-ups are changing the focus from the patient to the consumer by emphasizing continuity, integration, and personalization. Women’s health services are becoming convenient one-stop enterprises that improve the patient experience and address socioeconomic disparities within women’s healthcare.
- Subspecialty Services: The multifaceted nature of women’s health is driving PE investment in scarce subspecialties like maternal-fetal medicine, fertility and reproductive health, genetics, prenatal management, and postpartum care.
- Competition: New technologies and services are fostering greater competition. Patients are consumers who are being presented with more choices—and they have high expectations. Telehealth and remote technology increase an organization’s geographic footprint, and organizations that provide improved patient experiences will be leaders in women’s healthcare.
- Innovative Contracting: Women’s health reimbursement is at the forefront of value-based care. PE firms are supporting organizations that use new care models like bundled payments, self-insured companies, value-added services, and value-based contracts to drive value across the system.
Enhancing Your Position with a Consultant Partner
ECG is poised to support PE firms interested in investing in women’s health. In the last five years, we have worked with investor-backed organizations in the space to enhance their positioning and long-term success with the following services:
- Acquisition and Merger Support: Evaluating independent physician groups seeking partnerships and affiliations with national organizations
- Reimbursement Structure and Payer Negotiations: Identifying value and negotiating payment mechanisms to support new technologies and services
- Market Favorability Assessments: Considering regional and submarket factors for entry favorability
- Strategic and Financial Business Planning: Crafting meaningful strategic visions and supporting business plans that achieve investors’ goals
Edited by: Jessyca Yoppolo and Dara Khan