Healthcare consulting group Kaufman Hall has swelled its ranks with the acquisition of fellow advisory firm Gist Healthcare, according to a Monday announcement.
The deal was closed Jan. 1. Financial terms were not disclosed, though Gist will retain its brand going forward.
"We're very excited to combine our unparalleled healthcare expertise and nationally recognized thought leadership efforts to deliver clients objective, unique insights on critical healthcare market forces," Kaufman Hall CEO and Managing Director R. Wesley Champion said in the announcement. "Together, Kaufman Hall and Gist Healthcare will be uniquely positioned to better support and inform our collective client organizations' strategic decision-making and help them advance their missions."
Gist offers its independent strategic advisory services to health systems and physician groups alongside other healthcare organizations. It consults on market direction, system strategy, care transformation, payment reform and physician alignment.
Of note is the firm’s media presence and firsthand thought leadership content. Gist’s industry newsletter, The Weekly Gist, and podcast, "Gist Healthcare Daily," reach “tens of thousands” of audience members weekly, according to the announcement.
That line to healthcare executives, clinical leaders, policymakers and other industry figures combined with Kaufman Hall’s existing reach create “a unique platform to drive change in the healthcare industry that combines management consulting and performance improvement with a foundation of experience-based, independent thought leadership," Gist CEO Chas Roades said in the announcement.
Roades and Gist President Lisa Bielamowicz, M.D., started the six-person firm in 2018 after collectively spending more than three decades at Advisory Board Company, wrapping up their time there as chief research officer and chief medical officer, respectively.
Kaufman Hall was founded in 1985 and offers healthcare advisory services spanning strategy, financial and capital planning, performance improvement, M&A and treasury and capital markets management.
In late 2021, it expanded its capabilities to include healthcare real estate consulting thanks to the acquisition of Healthcare Real Estate Capital, noting at the time a pandemic-driven need for hospitals and health systems to efficiently employ their owned and leased real estate.
The latest deal comes nearly four months after Kaufman Hall bought out clinical documentation, hospital operations and mid-revenue cycle improvement technology platform Claro Healthcare to flesh out its operational performance improvement services.