Conglomerates, Complexity and Catastrophe in Healthcare

Healthcare systems in the United States have engaged in multiple strategies of diversification over the past four decades. These strategies include horizontal integration, vertical integration, market diversification, unrelated business diversification, and financial risk contracts. Most of these strategies have not worked well. A growing number of these systems have already gone bankrupt, while others are teetering on bankruptcy. This volume depicts the strategies undertaken, the difficulties encountered, and the ensuing financial tragedy at three prominent systems: Allegheny Health Education and Research Foundation (AHERF), Jefferson Health System, and Steward Health Care. It also develops a grounded theory of how and why such bankruptcies occur.