Erasmus University Medical Center and IJsselland Hospital withdraw application for acquisition license
Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) in the city of Rotterdam will not acquire IJsselland Hospital located in the town of Capelle aan den IJssel. The hospitals have informed the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) of this decision. ACM had conducted an in-depth investigation into the effects of this acquisition on the quality, accessibility and affordability of health care in the greater Rotterdam area. ACM informed both hospitals about the provisional results of its investigation. The hospitals subsequently withdrew their application for an acquisition license. As a result, the acquisition has been called off.
Erasmus MC in Rotterdam is a large academic hospital that offers high-complexity care, complex care, and basic care. IJsselland Hospital located in the town of Capelle aan den IJssel mainly offers basic care. In addition, the hospital offers complex care, particularly in the field of gastroenterology.
What was the case about?
In 2021, ACM concluded that the acquisition could have negative effects on the price, quality and innovation of health care. In addition, ACM found that Erasmus MC/IJsselland could gain a strong bargaining position vis-à-vis health insurers. Health insurers feared they would not be able to bypass Erasmus MC/IJsselland when buying health care services for their insured. ACM came to the conclusion that a further investigation was needed.
The hospitals decided to go ahead with their plans, and, in May 2021, applied for an acquisition license. ACM subsequently launched the follow-up investigation. During that in-depth investigation, ACM conducted economic analyses, examined hospital documents retrieved from the hospitals themselves, and sat down with other hospitals, GPs, and health insurers. In addition, ACM asked Erasmus MC and IJsselland Hospital several questions about their patient care and about the negotiations with health insurers. In that context, ACM on several occasions granted their requests for extending the deadline for answering those questions. ACM informed both hospitals of the provisional results of its investigation. The hospitals subsequently withdrew their application for an acquisition license.
ACM: collaborations, mergers, and acquisitions in health care
Through its assessments of mergers and acquisitions in the health care sector, ACM contributes towards the affordability, accessibility, and quality of health care. In ACM’s assessments of mergers and acquisitions, the consequences for patients and insured are central. If patients and health insurers continue to have sufficient options after a merger or acquisition, it will help towards lower prices, higher quality, and more diversity and innovation in health care.
In many situations, health care providers also work together without such collaborations turning into full-fledged mergers or acquisitions. On its website, ACM offers much information about the opportunities for collaborations in health care. In that context, ACM has drawn up guidelines for market participants in the health care market that work together as part of the initiative ‘the Right Care in the Right Place’ (in Dutch: De Juiste Zorg op de Juiste Plek).