The Healthcare Insider is a periodic newsletter addressing capital markets and mergers and acquisitions activity, financial and operating performance of certain publicly-traded companies, and trends within the healthcare and life sciences industry.

2013 promises to be a robust year for healthcare M&A with secular trends catalyzing continued consolidation. Full implementation of the Affordable Care Act is advancing, calling for sweeping reform on the U.S. healthcare system. The push for efficient delivery of quality care, complicated by reduced reimbursement rates, federal and state budgetary issues, and pressures of an uncertain economic climate, will feed transaction activity across all healthcare sub-sectors. Deal flow also continues to be boosted by excess capital from corporate and private equity buyers, supported by an accommodative credit market.