Greenberg W, Allen J, Wider J J, Ray C G
Behav Healthc Tomorrow. 1998 Aug;7(4):32-8.
The behavioral healthcare field has undergone massive consolidation, especially in the last year. Health plans, hospital systems, and community-based organizations have all been affected. Economists argue that consolidation is a logical consequence of the current, competitive healthcare market. But consumers and purchasers wonder if the mergers and acquisitions will benefit them. Efficient markets are supposed to stimulate competition in ways that reward purchasers and consumers of services. When prices go down and quality improves as a result of competitive market forces, then the market has functioned properly and has served its purpose. Behavioral healthcare, however, is an essential human service, not a commodity. And the consumers and purchasers of healthcare are typically not the same person or entity, which also makes the healthcare market different from the markets for cars, computers, food, or any other type of consumer product. More than 100 million Americans now receive managed behavioral health benefits from only three companies. With such intense power concentrated in the hands of such a small number of providers, the time has come to evaluate the impact of the consolidation trend. In the following dialogue article, leaders, representing different interest groups review the benefits and risks of massive industry consolidation, and propose solutions to the critical challenges that it raises.
行为医疗保健领域已经经历了大规模的整合，尤其是在过去一年。健康计划、医院系统和社区组织都受到了影响。经济学家认为，整合是当前竞争激烈的医疗保健市场的必然结果。但消费者和购买者想知道并购是否会使他们受益。有效市场应该以奖励服务购买者和消费者的方式刺激竞争。当价格因竞争市场力量而下降且质量提高时，那么市场就正常运作并实现了其目的。然而，行为医疗保健是一项基本的人类服务，而非商品。而且医疗保健的消费者和购买者通常不是同一个人或实体，这也使得医疗保健市场不同于汽车、电脑、食品或任何其他类型消费品的市场。现在有超过1亿美国人仅从三家公司获得管理式行为健康福利。由于如此强大的力量集中在如此少数的供应商手中，是时候评估整合趋势的影响了。在以下对话文章中，代表不同利益集团的领导人审视了大规模行业整合的益处和风险，并针对整合带来的关键挑战提出了解决方案。
