Medical Software

MedCount, the healthcare software subsidiary of diversified conglomerate GenCo, has failed to generate growth since its acquisition. The division sells back-office administrative systems to large U.S. hospitals and has already squeezed margins. BCG is tasked with identifying new revenue opportunities. This case tests a candidate's ability to structure a revenue growth problem across market, customer, competitor, and internal capability dimensions.

Client: GenCo is a large international diversified company with a healthcare division producing medical instruments and services. Five years ago, GenCo expanded into healthcare software by acquiring MedCount, which markets administrative (back-office) systems to large U.S. hospitals. MedCount's systems are not designed for patient care or physician support — they handle billing, scheduling, and operational administration. Situation: Since the acquisition, MedCount has failed to deliver the growth multiple GenCo paid. Management believes margins have been pushed as far as possible and now seeks new sales opportunities. BCG has been engaged to identify ways to increase revenues.

How can MedCount identify and capture new revenue opportunities to justify its acquisition multiple and deliver sustainable top-line growth?

Step 1 — Market sizing and segmentation: Quantify the total healthcare software market by segment (admin, clinical, physician support) and identify segments with the highest growth rates and MedCount's current penetration. Step 2 — Competitive analysis: Understand why MedCount is losing to HTI. Assess product gaps (admin-only vs. full suite), pricing, and service quality across customer interviews. Step 3 — Customer needs analysis: Determine what large hospital networks value most in software partnerships — integration, support responsiveness, pricing, or product breadth. Step 4 — Sales model redesign: Evaluate whether MedCount should restructure from a regional to a national key-account model to capture centralized procurement decisions at large chains. Step 5 — Portfolio strategy decision: Assess the build/buy/partner options for adding clinical or physician-support software to compete with HTI on product breadth. Key Insight: MedCount's core problem is structural misalignment — a regional sales model serving a market that has shifted to centralized purchasing, combined with a narrow product portfolio in a market moving toward integrated software suites. Revenue growth requires both a sales transformation and a product expansion strategy.