Overview
Diagnostic and ancillary service providers, including diagnostic imaging providers, laboratory service providers, staff placement agencies and medical technology providers (e.g., equipment, software), face an increasingly complex healthcare environment.
L.E.K. Consulting helps clients develop growth and performance improvement plans by identifying key market and competitive trends and developing a deep understanding of our clients’ core capabilities. We also support investors by assessing the commercial performance of specific targets in the context of the market and competitive, regulatory and reimbursement environments.
Key questions and challenges
Diagnostic and ancillary providers look to us to help address key strategic issues such as:
- What is an effective strategy for our organization to grow, both organically and via M&A?
- How is our market segmented, and which segments are most attractive?
- How can we evolve our capabilities, business model, cost structure and value proposition in a world of constrained public finances?
- How will the evolving reimbursement landscape impact our business, and what are the optimal responses?
- In the U.S., how will health plan provider networks and utilization management strategies impact our business, and what are our strategic options?
- How can we support healthcare systems in addressing their capital and budget constraints in the face of growing demand?
- What are the benefits of establishing public-private partnerships?
- What are the opportunities to establish private-pay and insurance-funded service offerings, and what are the implications for the business model and operations?
- How will emerging technologies (e.g., advanced imaging software, artificial intelligence) impact our business?
- How transferrable are our skills and best practices to other countries?
Examples of our work
To learn more about how we help clients create value, please refer to these additional case examples:
- Collaborated with a leading international diagnostic imaging provider to evaluate the impact of public-sector budget constraints in two European markets. We subsequently developed the strategic plan and restructuring plan to respond to the reimbursement environment challenges, and identified and analyzed growth opportunities, which drove the organization’s performance improvement.
- Provided strategic planning and portfolio optimization support to a global dialysis service provider, including in-depth profiling of the company’s 18 markets, assessment of potential expansion markets, and development of strategy to provide integrated care services to patients with comorbidities. Continued to provide ongoing support of organic and M&A-led expansion by the company.
- Provided strategic advice over a two-year period to help create the largest European provider of laboratory testing services, by merging two existing organizations. L.E.K. provided the strategic rationale for combining the two businesses and completed commercial due diligence, including a review of key market dynamics (regulatory environment, volume and price trends, and competitive environment), an assessment of organic and M&A business plans, and an articulation of operational improvement opportunities.
- Assessed diagnostic imaging growth opportunities in India, Brazil, China, the United States and South Africa for one of the world’s largest diagnostic imaging OEMs, including key market dynamics in the usage of diagnostic imaging services, a review of provision trends in advanced diagnostic imaging services and an assessment of competitors’ business models. Based on the analysis, the client completed an acquisition as part of its internationalization strategy.
- Developed a growth strategy for a radiology benefit management company that provides utilization management solutions to payers for controlling outpatient diagnostic imaging spend. The client successfully pursued expansion into multiple clinical specialties and continues to seek organic and inorganic growth opportunities.
- Assessed referral patterns for a leading provider of medical imaging services, including in-depth, primary qualitative and quantitative research with physicians and physician office administrators. We developed a performance improvement plan that drove increases in financial and operating outcomes.
- Developed a detailed performance improvement and strategic growth plan for a specialty pathology lab in the face of significant, negative reimbursement changes. L.E.K. articulated incremental and transformative opportunities that provided executive leadership with a fact-based understanding of the investment and timeline required to achieve strategic and financial objectives under different scenarios.