Much has been said about the social and business opportunities buried within the COVID-19 crisis. Who hasn't been on a video conference when someone tried to invoke Sir Winston Churchill's quote: "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

In the middle of May, I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with leaders in the field of providing support services to individuals affected by intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) during which we discussed the impact of COVID-19 on our services. This group consisted of direct service providers, area agency/managed care providers, and those who help with consulting and/or planning services. Representatives shared their current perspective of COVID-19 and how their services were affected, how they are planning for the "next phase" of communities opening back up, and the possibility of another lockdown.

While home medical equipment (HME) providers are well-recognized for adapting to change, especially as insurance companies shift requirements and the healthcare industry matures, what happened with COVID-19 blindsided everyone. Planning and projections went out the window. Now, we're trying to settle into a "new normal" that keeps changing.

By mid-to-late March, we all felt the immediate effects of the "lockdown" of our communities. Some healthcare businesses stopped services entirely while others saw a large dip in those offered. Organizations with a diversified payor source probably fared better than single-source providers, everyone felt the effects. At VERTESS, we had some deals stop, some slowed or paused, and others moved along. Progress — or lack thereof — all depended on the confidence of the buyer and ability of the seller to adjust.

While all of healthcare has been hit hard by the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, some industries have been affected more than others. Much of the news has focused on the impact to those facilities providing care to clients and patients, such as nursing homes, senior living, hospitals, and urgent care centers, there's another industry that's been greatly impacted but is under the radar: pharmacy.

The healthcare industry is continually in flux. Business owners and operators of urgent care centers (UCCs) are constantly experiencing changing regulatory guidelines and suppressing reimbursement from payors. These unpreventable changes and a demanding environment may lead owners to seek monetization of their assets. For those UCC owners considering selling, there's good news: The marketplace is currently hungry for your companies and buyers are eagerly gobbling up well-performing UCCs.

Integrated care is one of the big buzz words in the human services industry. Integrated care is fundamentally the combination of primary healthcare and mental healthcare in a single setting for the purpose of creating a team-based approach to general and mental care. As managed care becomes more commonplace in human services, payers are pressing for its providers to achieve the objectives of integrated care. As a result, providers are finding themselves tasked with the challenge of further decreasing cost while improving outcomes for those receiving support services.

In July 2015, Diplomat Pharmacy was the talk of the town. Momentum seemed like it was on the company's side, with Diplomat looking poised to be a major player for many years to come. But, as it is often said, "the higher they rise, the harder they fall." In December 2019, UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx agreed to acquire Diplomat for about $4 a share in cash. What caused this "All-American success story" to come up so short on expectations?

Financial buyers, particularly private equity groups (PEGs), are currently in heated battles with strategic buyers for quality durable medical equipment (DME) deals. Well-run, well-managed DME companies are at the forefront of such intense competitions as they seek all-time-high valuations from financial and strategic pursuers alike.

There's some good news for owners of durable medical equipment (DME) and home medical equipment (HME) businesses: The transactions market (i.e., mergers and acquisitions) is not too hot and not too cold, but just right at the moment.

In years past, strong financial numbers were often enough to hook a qualified buyer. However, these days, buyers — especially those pursuing intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD), mental health, and substance use disorder treatment organizations — are looking for much more. They want to see if the organization has special qualities; something that stands out and will help propel the organization to new heights under new ownership. They are looking for the "sizzle."

What are the current developments concerning specialty pharmacies? Alan Hymowitz takes a closer look at five key areas.