Dive Brief:

• Healthcare mergers and acquisitions in Q4 of 2014 scored a 120% gain in dollar amount over Q3, largely on the strength of Actavis' $66-billion takeover of Allergan, according to a report by market intelligence group Levin Associates.
• Even removing that deal from the equation, Q4 transaction amounts would have outdone Q3 by 15%, which is not anemic by any measure. Preliminary data showed 341 transactions in Q4, with a combined spending of $138 billion.
• While the deal volume only grew by 3%, the dollar amounts soared, with the top three sectors being long-term care, with 83 deals and a 24% share of the gross; biotechnology with 45 deals and a 13% share; and pharmaceuticals, with 35 deals and a 10% share.

Dive Insight:

This year's M&A train looks like it's fueled by rockets, with the Ensign Group announcing five separate deals on January 5. From the report:

"On the skilled nursing side, the company acquired a 103-bed SNF in Lubbock, Texas and a 158-bed post-acute care campus in Pueblo, Colorado that includes 141 skilled nursing beds and a 17-bed independent and assisted living operation. It also picked up two hospices, one in Lubbock, Texas and another in Scottsdale, Arizona. And finally, Ensign bought Integrity Urgent Care, with two urgent care clinics in Colorado Springs."

M&A in healthcare is likely to proceed at a brisk pace this year, particularly as hospitals and providers reposition to accept risk-based payments. And it's not as though they had much of a choice. Without the extra support of a partnership or an acquisition or merger deal, many hospitals and practices simply won't be able to make the transition to new forms of payment and new demands on care.