Are healthcare mergers and acquisitions slowing down as we begin 2017? According to PricewaterhouseCooper's Health Research Institute, the U.S. healthcare sector measured 939 deals in 2016 down from 952 in 2015 — a slight decrease of about 1.4 percent.

While the number of deals dropped only slightly, the value of the deals decreased by nearly 60 percent year-over-year with a total reported deal value of "just" $71.7 billion in 2016. PwC attributed the decline in total value to 2015's exceptional third quarter of 2015, in which managed care "megadeals" were announced.

In 2016, the greatest volume of deals was in the second quarter at 256, and reported deal volume was greatest in the third quarter at $20.7 billion. Long-term care represented the largest subsector in terms of deal volume (37) and deal value at $14.4 billion.

As Healthcare Dive reports, the money is entering the long-term care space as the U.S. population continues to age: "A Congressional Budget Office [report] from August 2016 found the number of people who are 65 years old and older has more than doubled since 1966. As more individuals begin to enter these long-term care facilities for care delivery services, they look more enticing as partnerships for larger health systems as patient care is viewed more as a continuum."

Back to the PwC report, the greatest growers in deal value was physician medical groups with a huge 385 percent increase over the previous year no matter how that gets sliced, that's some serious growth.

In 2016, 14 megadeals (transactions exceeding $1 billion) occurred, the largest deal of which was Envision Health Holdings' acquiring AmSurg in the second quarter of 2016. This one deal was about 9 percent of all the year's deal volume. The report notes that the number of megadeals completed in the fourth quarter in 2016 two — were valued at $7.2 billion in total.

"These figures represent a decrease in both volume and value, compared to both the prior year and the prior quarter," the report noted.

Another area down in the down year was IPO volume, which was almost flat, with only one deal.

"Health services M&A activity has been strong during the past several years with continued momentum being exhibited heading into 2017 across many sectors," said Thad Kresho, U.S. health service deals leader for PwC in the report. "However, attention should be paid to the evolution and implementation of the policies of the incoming administration, as well as the outcome of the government's review of certain large mergers."

Slipping from 2015 to 2016 was the managed care subsector, which witnessed the largest decline in terms of both deal value and volume, decreasing by 98.3 percent and 53.3 percent, respectively big drops in both cases.

Despite these numbers, a separate Mercom Capital Group report this month said venture capital funding, including private equity and corporate venture capital, in the health IT sector increased 27 percent quarter over quarter from 2015 to 2016, coming in at $1.4 billion. That cash represented 146 deals.

From the same data collected a year prior, there were 145 deals and $1.1 billion spent. So, almost exactly the same number of deals, yet quite a bit more money spent during the quarter in 2016.

During the first quarter of 2016, the top funded areas included wearables with $260 million; data analytics with $197 million; telemedicine with $171 million; mHealth apps with $120 million; and consumer health information with $100 million. The report lists the top VC deals of the first quarter of 2016 as a $175 million offering raised by Flatiron Health; $165 million raised by Jawbone; $95 million raised by Healthline; $70 million raised by Health Catalyst; $46 million raised by inviCRO; and $40 million raised by higi.

So, while slightly different metrics are being measured between the two studies, there's little consistency regarding how fast the money seems to be flowing into the sector.