Mr. Ellich: Health care services encompasses quite a bit within the health care continuum. There are traditional health care facility companies, such as hospitals and HMOs, and then there are alternative site providers. Medical device and pharma companies manufacture products or some sort of device, whereas health care service companies primarily provide a service to patients.
Just to give you an idea of what's included within health care services, there are hospitals, nursing homes, senior living facilities - like assisted living - clinical labs, ambulatory or outpatient surgery centers, dialysis companies, hospice and home health care, imaging services, managed care companies - like UnitedHealth Group (UNH) - institutional pharmacy, PBMs, distributors, behavioral health care, clinical research organizations, or CROs, and health care IT.
TWST: In general, how is the health care services sector doing?
Mr. Ellich: The sector is doing okay this year. Looking at the performance relative to the S&P, the majority of the companies in the services subgroup are performing better than the S&P. Last year the stocks did pretty well, too. There was good performance from the health care services companies in 2009.
Tickers included in this excerpt: AMED, DGX, DVA, FMS, LH, MD, PRSC, RSCR
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