AllScripts Acquisition Extends Reach
Chicago-based Allscripts has acquired Extended Care Information Network (ECIN), a provider of hospital care management and discharge planning software, for approximately $90 million in cash.
According to AllScripts, the acquisition enables it to facilitate the exchange of patient information between hospital case managers, physicians outside the hospital, and post-acute care facilities. ECIN has a client base of more than 400 hospitals and nearly 5,000 post-acute care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living and other facilities to whom hospitals refer patients in need of long-term care or short-term residential-based rehabilitation.
In light of the acquisition, Allscripts has created a new Hospital Solutions Group within the company to be directed by Jeff Surges, CEO of ECIN. The business unit will combine ECIN with AllScripts emergency department information systems and its existing care management solution, Canopy. Allscripts stated that it will continue to support both of its care management products for the foreseeable future.
BUPA Purchases Health Dialog
Boston-based Health Dialog, a company in the care management sector, is being purchased by U.K.-based BUPA, its largest shareholder, for cash.
BUPA is a global provider of healthcare services and the largest private health insurer in the United Kingdom.
The transaction values Health Dialog at $775 million. Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor to Health Dialog.
Emdeon Acquires IXT
Nashville, Tenn.-based Emdeon Business Services has acquired IXT Solutions (also from Nashville).
According to the company, the acquisition adds online patient billing, return mail management and lockbox services to Emdeon's existing suite of patient billing and payment solutions.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Eclipsys Sells CPM Resource Center to Elsevier
Atlanta-based Eclipsys has sold its Clinical Practice Model Resource Center (CPM Resource Center) to Netherlands-based Elsevier, a publisher of scientific, technical and health information products and services, for approximately $25 million.
Eclipsys says the sale enables it to focus on expanding the integration of multiple sources of content into its solutions, while letting Elsevier leverage its expertise in researching, maintaining and distributing the content.
Eclipsys employees involved in the CPM Resource Center business are joining Elsevier. Elsevier will take over responsibility for maintenance and consulting services related to the CPM Resource Center content, so Eclipsys clients will have continuity in their relationships with the CPM Resource Center professionals who perform those services, the company says.
Private Companies Partner for U. S. Army
London-based InferMed Ltd. has partnered with Pensacola, Fla.-based Cogon Systems Inc. to develop advanced clinical decision support tools for handheld computer use within the U.S. Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.
The combined solution will give mobile access to patient information and decision-support tools, the companies say. The goal of the project will be to determine whether the use of mobile technology in an inpatient setting to deliver clinical decision support will positively impact patient care while also achieving physician acceptance.
The site selected for the project is the Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) in Tacoma, Wash. With a beneficiary population exceeding 350,000 within a six-state region, MAMC is one of the busiest hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The product is designed to leverage data already residing in the hospital's information systems, thus preserving existing infrastructure investments.
Philips Acquiring Visicu
Amsterdam-based Royal Philips Electronics is acquiring Visicu Inc. (Baltimore), a provider of ICU remote-monitoring technology, for approximately $300 million.
The organizations stated that by integrating Visicu's remote patient-monitoring and clinical decision-support technology with Philips' patient monitors, they expect to accelerate growth. Upon completion of the acquisition, Philips intends to capitalize on its sales channel network to accelerate Visicu's adoption by ICUs at U.S. hospitals, while internationalizing Visicu's activities and migrating its technologies into other departments within the hospital. Philips believes leveraging Visicu's and Emergin's clinical IT capabilities will also accelerate growth in its existing patient-monitoring business. Philips announced it was acquiring Emergin in early December.
Philips plans to acquire the entire share capital of Visicu for $12 per share. The board of Visicu has approved the transaction and has recommended that Visicu shareholders vote their shares in favor of the merger. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
Founded in 1998, Visicu has a staff of approximately 100, which includes clinicians, software developers, sales and client services personnel.
Optimal Readings Acquires Pin Point
Optimal Reading Services Group Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., is acquiring Pin Point Radiology LLC of Forth Worth, Texas.
Under the agreement, Optimal Readings and Pin Point will combine all operations, and Pin Point will bring its radiology management contracts with hospital and radiology group clients. Pin Point's radiologists will join the Optimal Reading team and will augment its radiology services capabilities.
Spring Medical Partners with Provider Services of America
Provider Services of America Inc. will offer EHRs from Spring Medical Systems Inc., a Houston-based provider of software solutions for small- and medium-sized medical practices, to its affiliated IPAs.
Spring Medical's flagship offering is the SpringCharts family of products, which consists of SpringCharts EHR and SpringCharts Essentials.
