Experian, a Dublin-based information services company, has acquired the Franklin, Tenn.-based revenue cycle management company, Passport Health Communications for $850 million.
In a press release, Experian announced that this move is a follow-up to its 2008 buy of Search America and its 2011 acquisition of Medical Present Value. Experian merged the two businesses to create Experian Healthcare, which ranked 74th in the Healthcare Informatics 100 in 2013, and will generate revenue of $75 million in the year ending March 31, 2014.
"Since entering the US healthcare payments market five years ago, we have steadily expanded our position through both organic investment and acquisition, and our business is growing strongly. We are now taking the next step and the acquisition of Passport Health will make us a clear leader in this high growth and attractive market,” Don Robert, CEO of Experian, said in a statement.
Robert added that Passport brings on new sources of data and bring scale to Experian's healthcare business, while expanding the number of hospitals it reaches from 500 to nearly 3,000, representing approximately 45 percent of hospitals in the US. Passport brings on capabilities in billings cycle information technology, including patient engagement, scheduling, claims processing, payment processing, and patient follow-up.
In addition, Experian says, the number of healthcare payment records it holds will also increase dramatically, rising from approximately one billion to four billion records, “providing the potential for development of new analytical tools.”
Passport was ranked 66th on the Healthcare Informatics 100 in 2013.