BRG, Prism Healthcare Partners set to join forces to help healthcare providers improve financial and operating performance, manage consolidation and deliver high-quality, cost-effective care

EMERYVILLE, Calif. and CHICAGO, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BRG (Berkeley Research Group, LLC) has agreed to acquire the equity ownership of Prism Healthcare Partners, subject to the completion of due diligence and documentation. The deal, targeted to close in early June, will expand the healthcare consulting group of BRG to 350 consultants. It will be one of the largest healthcare performance improvement consulting firms, with a national presence. Both companies are privately held.

The combined practice will have the scale and competencies to serve any size client, and the ability to provide complete solutions across all areas of operations, strategy and business analytics. Although the largest share of clients is in the acute care space, the entire healthcare provider market will be served. The merged practice will be actively recruiting experienced consultants as it continues to grow.

"We are coming together to help healthcare providers take on today's complex challenges, including continued high costs, operational inefficiencies, demand for quality performance, new competition, market consolidation and falling margins–all with the primary goal of enhancing patient care," said Paul Osborne, Managing Director of BRG's Healthcare Performance Improvement group. He will lead the merged division with Mukesh Gangwal, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Prism.

BRG and Prism have similar business models. They both focus on long-term client relationships and deploy an agile approach that involves boots on the ground within a day or two of first contact with a client to deliver rapid results – increasingly important at a time when health systems are struggling with costs, reimbursement and operating margins. Collectively, BRG and Prism have helped health systems implement billions of dollars in financial improvement. 

Both companies have deep experience assisting health systems to improve margins, quality and outcomes for their clients. Additionally, they leverage a similar subject matter expert model, with teams of specialists working on the frontlines with their clients. The average experience of consultants is over 15 years.

The two firms' complementary business models and service offerings will provide new value to healthcare providers that distinguishes them from other consultancies. For example, BRG brings to the table a proprietary analytics platform that is driven by consultants with deep experience in delivering data-driven results. BRG has harnessed this analytics power and its extensive clinical expertise to help numerous large health systems redesign clinical processes and drive operational efficiencies.

Prism has a long track record helping a range of healthcare providers, particularly academic medical centers, which have specialized needs because of their teaching, research and clinical orientation. Like BRG, it also has helped health systems improve financial and operational performance in labor, supply chain, revenue cycle, and physician and clinical operations.

Both firms have helped newly merged systems move beyond traditional centralization to true clinical and managerial integration. By combining their strengths, BRG and Prism will help clients succeed in a value-based healthcare world through a more holistic approach to performance improvement supported by world-class data analytics to guide the decision-making process and improve margins and care delivery.

"This combination signals BRG's continued dedication to our healthcare practice group, one of the largest in the firm.  We look forward to working with Paul, Mukesh and the entire practice leadership team to drive innovative and positive results for our clients, as well as continued organic growth opportunities for our internal stakeholders," said Tri MacDonald, President of BRG.

"The market today demands increased efficiencies that are sustainable across the organization," Gangwal said. "Providers must navigate a dynamic and disruptive healthcare environment, declining reimbursements, a need to provide a broader continuum of care, the rising element of consumerism in choice, and a shift from volume to value in payment and care delivery. They need to be strategic, innovative and operationally effective to remain relevant in their respective markets."

Added Osborne: "We are now at the scale of the largest firms in our industry, but we have the ability to partner with our clients in a more cost-effective and agile manner. Time is money. Clients shouldn't have to wait to see results. Using advanced analytics and subject matter expertise, we quickly identify performance improvement opportunities and implement results, enabling providers to rapidly increase revenues and reduce expenses in the immediate, intermediate and long-term."

About BRG
Berkeley Research Group, LLC (BRG) is a global consulting firm that helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and strategy and operations. Headquartered in California with offices around the world, it is an integrated group of experts, industry leaders, academics, data scientists, and professionals working beyond borders and disciplines. It harnesses its collective expertise to deliver the inspired insights and practical strategies clients need to stay ahead of what's next. Visit thinkbrg.com to learn more.

About BRG Healthcare Performance Improvement
BRG's Healthcare Performance Improvement group combines traditional performance improvement with a clinically driven approach that helps hospitals and health systems significantly improve their margins while protecting or enhancing quality of care. Its consultants have years of experience advising multihospital health systems, major academic medical centers and stand-alone community hospitals on improving revenue cycle operations as well as reducing labor, non-labor and clinical costs.

About Prism
Prism Healthcare Partners Ltd., based in Chicago, uses an integrated, multi-disciplinary, tailored approach to help clients improve their financial, operational and clinical performance to succeed in today's challenging and rapidly changing reimbursement environment. Its healthcare consulting professionals have decades of performance improvement experience, including in hospital business and clinical leadership positions. Prism teams bring the subject matter expertise and commitment necessary to effectively collaborate across an organization to drive meaningful and sustainable results.

SOURCE BRG