In this episode of Friends of Project Healthcare…
Host Eric Thrailkill is joined by Blake Madden, the founder and creator of Hospitalogy, to discuss current trends in the healthcare industry at large. From consolidation to declining physician reimbursement to the growth of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), Blake provides valuable insights you won’t want to miss.
The Hospitalogy newsletter, sent out twice per week, is affiliated with Workweek Media and explains all things related to the $4.3 trillion business of healthcare. Prior to joining Workweek, Blake worked at healthcare consulting firm VMG Health, where he provided valuation and advisory services for clients across all healthcare services verticals including nonprofit health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care, imaging centers, physician practices, and more.
Blake began his first newsletter in 2018 as a side hustle. It was called “The Healthy Muse” and consisted of five simple bullet points on the developments in digital health and policy changes. That hobby became a full-time gig for Madden when he officially launched the Hospitalogy newsletter in April 2022, and grew it into a community of over 25,000 subscribers.
“I love diving into new, interesting things like innovations and care delivery models and tech solutions and those sorts of things,” Madden shared. “So it’s a little bit of everything now.”
One of Madden’s favorite topics is the future of healthcare, specifically the finance and M&A side of the business. “Hospitalogy is about the business of healthcare,” Madden said. “I can speak a lot about traditional services firms and the financial side of it, and the business and partnerships and M&A.”
Recently, Madden addressed the issue of big acute care companies and the future of hospital consolidations. “They’re kind of getting attacked on all sides right now, labor being the most pressing one, but also you’re seeing the payer mix shift from commercial reimbursement to Medicare,” he offered. “And then at the same time the Medicare, traditional Medicare pie is shrinking to half, being Medicare Advantage and growing.”
But when it comes to mergers and acquisitions, Madden said the last couple of years have revealed some surprising failures. “You’re seeing mergers that are cross market, that are more kind of capability focused rather than traditionally focused, if that makes sense. So it’ll be interesting to see how those types of mergers play out over the next, you know, several years and decades plus.”
No matter where the industry is headed, Madden and the Hospitology newsletter will be there to keep you informed. Subscribe to the Hospitalogy newsletter here.
This conversation was captured at the 2023 ViVE Conference in Nashville, TN. Stay tuned for more exciting interviews from the event.
About Blake Madden: Blake Madden is the Founder and Creator of Hospitalogy, a newsletter affiliated with Workweek Media that provides the latest insights on healthcare finance, strategy, M&A, and digital health. Blake brings relevant thought leadership and in-depth analysis to more than 22,000 healthcare decision makers since launching Hospitalogy in April 2022. Prior to joining Workweek, Blake worked at healthcare consulting firm VMG Health, where he provided valuation and advisory services for clients across all healthcare services verticals including nonprofit health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care, imaging centers, physician practices, and more.
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