Acqusitions and Mergers - Research Paper Example

? -Acquisition and Mergers – – – – August 29, The industry chosen in this paper is the health care industry in USA that has seen many mergers and acquisitions in recent times. Many big health care units are combing up with the local firms to reduce their cost and increase manpower at the same time. Two such companies chosen are Piedmont Healthcare and Saint Joseph's Health System based in Atlanta that have formed a corporate alliance with each other. Another company in the same healthcare industry that does not have a global presence outside USA and also no history of any corporate merger is The American Amputee Foundation, Inc. (AAF) that is a NGO run company in USA. Company details in brief Piedmont Health Care Piedmont Hospital is health care unit established in 2002 in Buckhead area, Atlanta. Physicians and other members of the hospital have come from all across the globe to provide the best facilities in health care possible. The hospital has above 80 physicians who offer a diverse range of medical services. With above 20 specialist doctors and primary care functions, its patients get access to many systems of medical care. With their x-ray, CT scan, MRI facility, ultrasound as well as in-house laboratories, the patients get the option to receive medical tests and their related procedures close to their home. Piedmont Healthcare and its workers and physicians had raised over $32,000 for supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in the Light the Night Walk programme in 2011 at Centennial Olympic Park on November 5, 2011 (PIEDMONT profiles, 2011, p.10). In terms of its global presence, Piedmont health care has collaborated with MedShare to provide health care stuffs to the people in developing countries. It had provided 4,334 pounds of medical goods to MedShare (Piedmont Physicians Group, 2012). MedShare is a reputed nonprofit organization which is dedicated towards improving the healthcare in developing countries by distributing surplus medical supplies and equipments to the impoverished healthcare facilities. Saint Joseph's Health System The hospital provides diverse range of medical care from its facilities that includes 14 emergency care hospitals, home health units, hospital care, its outpatient services, skilled nurses and their facilities, its community clinics, and the physician organizations. The hospital operates mostly in South California, North California and Texas. The St. Joseph Health is one of the founding members of the Center for Healthcare Reform. The Center worked with several groups and individuals to fulfill deep, systemic improvements in the area of its cost, its medical care quality and the access to the U.S health care (St. Joseph Health, 2012). American Amputee Foundation, Inc. (AAF) The American Amputee Foundation, Inc. (AAF) was founded in 1975 as a form of national information clearing house and a referral center that used to treat the amputees, the families, and their care providers. The foundation researches and then gathers information on different aspects of amputation that include conducting studies, on product information, the available services, its self-help journals and many of its articles regarding amputation and their related conditions. The American Amputee Foundation, Inc. also started to offer Life Care Planning Services in 1978 that provided for Wheelchair/Mobility Equipment along with the Maintenance Needs, the Projected Therapies that included physical as well as occupational therapies, mental counseling, Orthotics and Prosthetics and many more. As a nonprofit organization that provide utilities mainly for the amputees as well as their families and also secondarily the people with spinal cord injury, the organization has limited their life care services for these clients (The American Amputee Foundation, Inc, 2009). Piedmont Healthcare merger with Saint Joseph's Health System – a good business decision In 2010, Saint Joseph’s Health System and Piedmont Healthcare had announced their proposal to enter into an exclusive negotiation to create a new business partnership as a Joint Operating Company. Both Piedmont Healthcare and Saint Joseph’s are well known healthcare systems that are recognized for their quality, community service, and well groomed medical staffs. The proposed association would thus help the two healthcare systems in order to collaborate for serving the people of North Georgia. The proposed merger had helped to combine the assets of both Piedmont Healthcare (PHC) and Saint Joseph’s Health System (SJHS), which also included Saint Joseph’s Hospital based in Atlanta. Established by the Sisters of Mercy in the year 1880, Saint Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta is a division with 410-bed, it is documented as an acute-care hospital which is also one of the foremost referral hospital for specialist treatment in the Southeast (Stone and Keenan, 2011). Saint Joseph's is also one of the primary providers for cardiac treatments, vascular oncology as well as orthopedic services and have excellent facilities for the robotic surgery that uses minimal cuts and invasion in the world. Saint Joseph's medical strength consists of more than 750 physicians. It is also one of the top 50 hospitals in USA to receive the Magnet Recognition for Nursing. Piedmont Healthcare (PHC) is a 481-bed hospital in the North Atlanta community of Buckhead that specializes in acute tertiary care and is the Best in all over Atlanta in their cardiac treatments like cardiac care, in cardiac surgery as well as coronary intervention (Piedmont Healthcare, 2010). So going by these facts we can conclude that this merger between the two health care units was a profitable one. Business-level and corporate-level strategy of Piedmont Heath care Piedmont is located primarily in Atlanta. It took some business initiatives to extend its units. The Group has been operating in Atlanta over 100 years.  The company follows the principles of Compassion, Commitment, Service, Excellence and Balance. But as the group expanded to its more complicated operations, many of its departments had become isolated because of lack of inter connections in its IT systems.  Communication had become challenging and the business work-flow had slowed. As a result, both its profit margins as well as patient satisfaction were reducing. The company took up the business initiative called Access to Care (ATC) to solve its problems. But still the success rate was not commendable. Recommendations offered had been discarded or were found to be technologically inefficient. So, the CEO of the company started using direct participations method to examine its business related problems. These efforts, together with even more research helped the organization to achieve its business objectives. Regarding its corporate strategies the company initiated the Corporate Compliance Program in the organization. The Corporate Compliance Program had been established for identifying, preventing and correcting the occurrence of wrong conducts such as illegal and unethical behavior. The organization lays stress on collaborative team approach to take the best decisions and to build a safe environment for the patient care. The Code of Conduct of the health care showed that they have strong values, they are reliable, and they take measures for correcting any inappropriate behavior (Piedmont Healthcare, Inc, 2011, p.4). The American Amputee Foundation, Inc – a good business prospect The American Amputee Foundation is involved with the amputated people and their families. The corporation is a NGO entity and as such there are limited scopes for it. The health care system in USA is expanding and if this organization collaborates with other bigger names in the same sector it would provide better facilities and amenities for the amputated people. By associating with this organization, health care units care expands their benefits to the amputated people also which would help them to increase their revenue. Also different business objectives can be established by merging with the company. Proposed business and corporate level strategy for The American Amputee Foundation For expanding its business at the global level, the organization can follow the mentioned business strategy. The company must research on the country in its initial levels. The organization would need a huge number of people or work force for operating outside. Here the company must find out the estimated number of people it would be requiring for its business purpose. The company would need to assess the current and the recent trends in the health care system of the new location. After this the company can enter into business partnerships to explore the markets further. The company can frame business development strategies that would include attending, sponsoring events, and by participation in the industry networking programmes. The organization should also take into consideration its cost structure. It can borrow funds from international organizations like UNICEF, IMF, WORLD BANK etc for funding its global business objectives. The corporate business strategies would include the guidelines to be used in its foreign location. For this the corporation would have to evaluate the culture and ethic of the country they plan to do business. There must not be any corporate objective that would be against the local sentiments. It has to ensure that no form of treatment or any health care service is provided which goes against the moral and culture of the local people. It needs to be sure about the healthcare units and its functions too. There must not be any form of malpractice or wrong behavior by the employees. Also, the company would need to estimate the amount of resources it would need to expand its business in overseas locations. These proposals would help the organization in achieving its fund requirements and provide a business exposure to it. There are many advantages of going global and merging with companies. This can also help the organization in gaining new insights about the health care industry. References Piedmont healthcare, (2010), retrieved on August 20, 2012, from: http://www.piedmont.org/Main/News/Saint-Josephs-and-Piedmont-Healthcare-Announce-Let-628.aspx Piedmont Physicians Group, (2012), retrieved on August 20, 2012, from: http://www.piedmonthospital.org/Corporate/News/Piedmont-Healthcare-Donates-4334-Pounds-Of-Medical-1432.aspx Piedmont Healthcare, Inc, (2011), retrieved on August 20, 2012, from: http://www.piedmonthospital.org/Uploads/Public/PHC%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20Oct%202011%20Final%2010-10-2011[3].pdf PIEDMONT profiles, (2011), retrieved on August 20, 2012, from: http://www.piedmont.org/uploads/public/documents/ProfilesWinter2011-12.pdf St. Joseph Health, (2012), retrieved on August 20, 2012, from: http://www.stjhs.org/ Stone, E.L. & P.S. Keenan (2011), Barcode Technology for Positive Patient Identification Prior to Transfusion, Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare, retrieved on August 30, 2012 from: http://www.carefusion.com/pdf/Center_for_Safety/Webinars/case-study_st-josephs.pdf The American Amputee Foundation, Inc, (2009), retrieved on August 20, 2012 from: http://www.americanamputee.org/ Read More