KPMG to buy health-care consulting firm Beacon Partners

KPMG LLP, the US-based accounting and professional-services giant, yesterday struck a deal to buy health-care consulting firm Beacon Partners Inc for an undisclosed sum.

Beacon Partners will be KPMG's ninth acquisition in the last seventeen months as the audit, tax and advisory firm bulks up its professional service offerings in key sectors including healthcare, financial services, industrial manufacturing and technology.

Massachusetts-based Beacon Partners serves clients across all healthcare provider sub-segments throughout the US, and is ranked 15th on Modern Healthcare's list of top health-care consulting firms.

The addition of Beacon Partners' credentialed consultants will provide KPMG with capabilities in core provider business applications and Electronic Health Records systems.

''The influx of personnel will add critical skills to KPMG's Operations Improvement team, supplementing its revenue cycle, performance improvement, clinical process improvement, business planning, ACO development, and analytics capabilities,'' KPMG said in a statement.

"Healthcare is among our firm's strongest and most promising marketplace opportunities.  As the healthcare industry experiences unprecedented transformation – with increased regulations, technological disruption, and wide scale adoption of new business and operating models driving demand for our services – this acquisition will strengthen KPMG's market position in this industry," said John Veihmeyer, global chairman of KPMG.

"The integration of Beacon Partners and KPMG will provide our clients an even deeper level of service and expertise that will become increasingly important to healthcare providers as they plan and implement their strategies for success over the next few years," said, Ralph Fargnoli, president and CEO of Beacon Partners.