Two healthcare survey leaders join forces to strengthen market research and member engagement expertise and broaden combined survey portfolio

SPH Analytics, the top-ranked patient satisfaction measurement firm in the Health Plan market, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Market Strategies International-Morpace to merge the Morpace Health division into SPH Analytics to create the nation’s largest member experience measurement and analytics firm. The two companies anticipate closing the transaction by December 31, 2018.

“I am thrilled to bring together leaders in the patient engagement and market research space,” said Amy Amick, President and CEO of SPH Analytics. “We have a lot of respect for the capabilities of Morpace Health, and we strongly believe that our strengths as organizations are highly complementary. As a combined company, we will leverage the best practices that each organization brings to the table, with a deliberate focus on creating the best value and experience and innovation roadmap for our clients. Our expectation is to provide clients with best-in-class solutions that help them better understand and engage their members. The acquisition will also accelerate our investment in innovation to help drive progressive change that improves the overall care environment.”

The healthcare sector is rapidly shifting from fee-for-service to value-based care, designed to achieve healthcare’s Triple Aim goals. Morpace Health provides research expertise focused on member experience and quality of care, expanding SPH Analytics’ extensive portfolio of patient and member experience surveys and engagement programs – offering health plans additional ways to improve care outcomes, reduce costs, and deliver patient satisfaction.

“We are confident that our clients and employees will benefit from the new combined company,” stated Susan Semack, Senior Vice President, Health at Morpace Health. “We will continue to serve our clients with relentless focus, providing meaningful insights, but now with the added benefit of SPH Analytics’ resources, technology and much broader solution portfolio.”

The combined company will enable Morpace Health clients access to SPH’s Triple Aim solutions, including advanced SaaS analytics and reporting, member engagement solutions, population health and quality measure solutions, and financial risk analytics. Furthermore, Morpace Health clients will now have access to additional regulatory and insight surveys in the SPH portfolio, as well as omni-channel patient/member outreach via SPH’s Nexus Platform™. This, coupled with Morpace Health’s deep custom research capabilities and tenured healthcare research professionals, will clearly differentiate the newly combined company in the market. The combined company will also hold 12 accreditations to meet CMS and NCQA regulatory requirements.

Terms of the deal will not be disclosed. Semack will join the SPH Executive Leadership Team as Senior Vice President, Consumer Experience, and in addition to other leadership responsibilities, will spearhead the integration and transformation of the combined businesses. The Morpace Health team will continue to operate from Farmington Hills, Michigan, with SPH Analytics headquarters in Alpharetta, GA.

This agreement does not impact Market Strategies International health clients. Given the complementary nature of MSI and SPH solutions, the companies anticipate go forward collaboration and partnership opportunities.