Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health sees room to keep buying up independent GI and urology practices, with 80% to 90% of physicians in those specialties still unaffiliated with a management services organization, CEO Jason Hollar said during a September appearance at Morgan Stanley’s Global Healthcare Conference.
Mr. Hollar said Cardinal has built The Specialty Alliance around three platforms — oncology, urology and autoimmune/GI — and does not plan to add a fourth, preferring to keep bolting on practices within those three. The company folded distribution for its GI Alliance and Solaris urology networks into its core pharmaceutical business in 2026, a move executives expect to keep boosting results through fiscal 2027.
“There’s a lot of commonality” across GI, urology and autoimmune practices in the types of services they need, including infused drugs, ancillary services and procedures performed in ASCs, Mr. Hollar said, adding that Cardinal’s nuclear medicine and at-home care units give its MSOs “a one-stop shop” for physician-facing services like payer negotiation and recruitment.
A target practice also has to fit Cardinal’s culture, not just its clinical profile, Mr. Hollar said, describing The Specialty Alliance’s approach as picking “the right partners” so new practices mesh with existing ones.
He pointed to the company’s BioPharma Solutions unit, which is on pace to hit $1 billion in revenue by fiscal 2028, up from $550 million in fiscal 2025, as an example of the kind of adjacent growth these physician relationships can unlock.
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