They certainly could be, says Harris Williams & Co. managing director David Joncas, who co-leads the firm's technology, telecom and digital media group. "Healthcare IT is highly fragmented, but it's not just incumbents that will consolidate the market," says Joncas. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) expand into the market, or for that matter Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MFST), which already has a small presence."
And Joncas (pictured) isn't talking about small acquisitions to test the water -- though those deals would be part of the strategic mix -- but "large well-capitalized technology companies making a big commitment."
There's plenty of hard data to back up that prediction, including:
- Nearly $20 billion in federal economic stimulus money earmarked to help doctors and hospitals adopt healthcare technology
- Clear operational synergies between technology heavyweights and healthcare IT firms
- "Thousands" of small and midsized companies operating in every corner of the sector
All of these factors are driving business at Harris Williams. According to Joncas, nearly 80% of the work being done by the technology, telecom and digital media group in the first half of 2009 has been in healthcare IT.
If traditional tech giants do dive into the space, they'll have plenty of company. GE Healthcare, Allscripts-Misys Healthcare
Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:MRDX), McKesson Corp. (NYSE:MCK), Cerner
Corp. (NASDAQ:CERN) and other electronic healthcare incumbents are all active buyers -- and sellers -- in this busy market. Not to mention the private equity firms, says Joncas, that are aggressively seeking opportunities to put their dollars to work.
- Suzanne Stevens
Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
Tech companies targeting the healthcare industry is really nothing new....I have been living in that world for over 2 years with great results. The real golden egg that everyone is looking for is: "When all of our modalities are on network, are able to provide remote monitoring, and have service contracts, what do we do next"???? Ahhhh...that's the next great step for companies to discover and realize there is gold in them hills!!!