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Qualtrics, developer of tools and technologies for customer and employer experience, announced Monday that it will acquire Press Ganey Forsta, which specializes in patient experience surveys and other healthcare performance improvement resources.
WHY IT MATTERS
The terms of the definitive agreement call for Qualtrics to buy Press Ganey Forsta for $6.75 billion, payable in a combination of cash and equity. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the coming months, until which time the companies will continue to operate independently.
The transaction will bring together Qualtrics technology with Press Ganey's extensive data and benchmarking resources to help build out an AI-enabled platform designed to help healthcare organizations boost customer and patient experience, employee experience and market research capabilities.
Together the two companies say they can help healthcare clients fine-tune their products, services and experiences by gaining a better understanding of the customers, employees and industries they serve.
Qualtrics' AI tools, such as Conversational Feedback, Qualtrics Assist, its synthetic research platform Edge Audiences and Experience Agents, have seen rapid adoption as enterprise customers use them to improve products and processes.
Press Ganey's 40 years of healthcare industry expertise, benchmarking and advisory services – its surveys and tools are used by 41,000 providers in 30 countries – will help Qualtrics build a platform designed for providers who want to improve patient experience, enable better health outcomes and boost employee retention and morale, the companies say.
THE LARGER TREND
Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. have often continued to lag other industries in both patient and employee satisfaction, as surveys from Qualtrics have shown.
Press Ganey surveys and performance improvement tools have long been used by providers, including Intermountain and Marshfield Clinic Howard University Hospital, to try to do better by their customers and staff.
"At Intermountain Health, we've seen firsthand that when you put patients first, the results speak for themselves – better quality and safety outcomes, improved healthcare experiences and measurable performance impact," said Intermountain President and CEO Rob Allen in a statement this week. "We're confident that Qualtrics' investment in Press Ganey Forsta is a groundbreaking move for healthcare that will positively transform healthcare experience and quality for the future."
"For years, our data has shown organizations that have better employee engagement also have better patient experience outcomes," Press Ganey Chief Experience Officer Chrissy Daniels told Healthcare IT News in 2024. "From the employee perspective, a caregiver's likelihood of staying in an organization is influenced by their ability to provide safe, patient-centered care."
Technology advances now enable health systems to manage critical patient feedback in real time, as Dr. Adrienne Boissy of Qualtrics and The Cleveland Clinic, told us this past year.
Both Press Ganey and Qualtrics have been working with IT giants such as Epic to innovate their products with key patient and clinical staff data in recent years. Press Ganey has integrated Epic nursing quality data and automating reporting into Epic, and that company in turn has made Qualtrics' patient experience data available in its own EHR workflows.
ON THE RECORD
"Bringing Qualtrics and Press Ganey Forsta together will accelerate the adoption of AI and create the most comprehensive platform for improving the human experience," said said Zig Serafin, CEO of Qualtrics, in a statement. "There's no more important proving ground for experience management than healthcare, where better experiences for patients and employees directly impact better outcomes and quality of care."
"AI is rapidly transforming every industry, and organizations need proven, innovative solutions grounded in deep expertise to move from insight to impact faster," added Patrick T. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Press Ganey Forsta. "By bringing together two leading companies, we're accelerating critical advancements that will elevate the human experience, driving greater safety, trust, and value for millions of patients, consumers, and employees worldwide."
Mike Miliard is executive editor of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mmiliard@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
