“By unifying product selection & streamlining SKUs, health systems can optimize both pricing & performance.”
—Alia Schmidt, Vice President, GPO Implementations & Account Executive
Operational efficiencies & supply chain leverage are keys to lasting value
In a fast-evolving healthcare landscape, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) continue to accelerate as organizations seek to enhance care delivery, expand access and drive down costs. For hospitals and health systems, delivering on the value of M&A requires a strategic focus on operational efficiency and supply chain optimization.
Vice Presidents Rick Phillips and Alia Schmidt lead HealthTrust’s Advisory Services and GPO Implementations teams, respectively. Having worked closely with a number of member organizations through the years, they have amassed a wealth of knowledge. They offer compelling suggestions for hospitals and health systems to fully realize the value of a merger or acquisition.
Strategic imperative of scale
M&As allow health systems to achieve critical mass—unlocking cost savings, negotiating power and greater consistency across both services and operations. However, scale also introduces complexities as a result of integrating disparate workflows, technologies and cultures. Challenges around misaligned systems, fragmented data and conflicting organizational norms can create friction and inefficiencies that must be addressed with a shared strategy.
“Efficiencies don’t come from the merger itself—they come from what you do with the new scale you’ve created,” Phillips explains. “That means shifting from reactive, siloed problem-solving to building coordinated strategies that drive consistency, reduce variation and enable smarter, systemwide decision-making.”
The most effective integrations focus not just on size, but also on synergy—with both Phillips and Schmidt emphasizing the importance of early alignment on governance, data strategy and cultural fit. Creating stakeholder engagement and some quick wins can help to build momentum and create buy-in from day one. Phillips offers an example of this from a recent Advisory Services client engagement where the team was able to improve OR utilization post-integration by adjusting pre-op and post-op workflows—seemingly a small change, yet it unlocked capacity and reduced systemwide delays.
Integrating operations
Streamlining operations is essential to delivering true clinical and financial value. Phillips emphasizes that, “The goal of integration isn’t simply to replicate how one organization operated before or to overlay one system’s standardization playbook over another. The goal is to build something better.”
This mindset shapes how HealthTrust supports members during a merger or acquisition. Phillips and Schmidt agree that sharing that visibility across a member’s enterprise enables their teams to identify new opportunities for creating more effective and improved operations.
One key strategy is leveraging centralized functions, such as unified scheduling and access centers, to ensure consistency and better resource allocation. There are also efficiencies in standardizing clinical pathways and administrative workflows, allowing the health system to track outcomes and make data-informed decisions.
HealthTrust focuses on measurable indicators such as patient access times, staff productivity and capacity utilization to spot opportunities and track progress. “We’re able to take out waste and redundancies and apply those learnings back across the entire system,” Phillips explains.
Sustainable scale for the long term
M&A is not a one-time event but a multiyear journey. It should begin with clear goals, investing in strong leadership teams and communicating frequently with both clinical and operational stakeholders.
Sustaining the benefits of scale requires a long-term strategy rooted in continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration. “The success of a newly consolidated entity hinges on well-planned and strong execution,” says Phillips. “From consolidating supply chains to streamlining operations, the power of scale lies in how it’s used—not just how big a system becomes. The right post-deal strategies can drive real transformation in improving care delivery and preparing for a more agile future.”
And, whether your organization is navigating an M&A or it’s business as usual, two key takeaways are clear: Operational efficiency and supply chain leverage aren’t just back-end functions, they’re strategic levers for unlocking lasting value.
READY TO FUTURE-PROOF YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN OR ENHANCE YOUR OPERATIONS? Contact your HealthTrust Account Manager or email solutions@healthtrustpg.com to start the conversation.
Share Email efficiency, governance, Integration, Mergers & acquisitions, Operational Excellence, Performance Improvement, Q3 2025
