I once witnessed the moment when the messenger from the new management team comes over to explain to the brilliant engineers who built the company up from nothing about these "timesheets" they need to fill in, and how it's "really not a big deal". You could feel something dying over the course of the conversation. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen, and I'm sure it's far worse if you are one of the original engineers.

Is it something every acquired company has to go through? Is there a right way to do this?

Japan forces their doctors to charge only what's published in a book that the government issues and negotiates prices periodically. Simple price fixing in an otherwise private healthcare market. In return, Japanese doctors and hospitals (FYI, there are more private hospitals in Japan than the US) are allowed to set whatever prices for ancillary services (like private or semi-private rooms) that they want. BTW, the average stay overnight in a private room at a Japanese hospital is about $100. An MRI (which was 1400 negotiated down to 700 FTA) is $98, due largely to the fact that the Japanese have more MRIs and CT scanners per capita than the US. I mean, wasn't technology supposed to be our superiority play?

And, if you want to talk care and outcomes, let's pick the most grim of diagnostics: Cancer. Japan's 5-year survival rates are among the highest in the world, and the highest in particular cancers such as colon and rectal cancer. And, FYI, the US isn't #1 in survival rates for all cancers. It's spread evenly through the G8.

And, the most free of supposed free markets and tax-friendly wonderlands, Singapore, also puts price controls on procedures, with similarly successful outcomes. So it isn't a cultural or "economic" thing, it's a government thing. It always will be. An adult just needs to come in, put their foot down similar to what Tommy Douglas did in Canada, and declare either we all buy in to a government-run healthcare system, or we buy in to the government completely regulating the market much like it does the stock market or agricultural industry. States will have no say, no quarter, or feedback. They can choose to secede from the union to opt-out of the program.

And, while I love me some comment karma, I know that my position is tantamount to heresy on this board, so, get your dismissive hand cocked and ready to wave me away :D