NAHDO GETS FINANCIAL BOOST
The Society of Actuaries contributed $61,700 to the National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO), Falls Church, Va., to fund enhancements to the National Health Information Resource Center (NHIRC), a Web site for health data and information systems issues. The funding will enable implementation of a topic indexing/search/retrieval system, development of a health database locator module and installation of a performance measurement module including links and project abstracts related to health outcomes and performance measurement activities. NAHDO also received a grant for $323,189 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J. to develop a National Registry of State Data Sources and enhance the National Health Information Resource Center Web site. The National Registry will identify sources of state health data and increase researcher access to that data, while improving working relationships between researchers, state policy and data officials.
MEDICAL MANAGER ACQUIRES MORE DEALERSHIPS
Medical Manager Corp., Tampa, Fla., announced it has purchased five more dealerships in support of its strategy to consolidate its distribution network for its Medical Manager software. Dealerships are located in California, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana. This sixth round of acquisitions brings the total number of dealerships to 32.
3M ACQUIRES PACE
3M Health Information System, Salt Lake City, announced it has purchased PACE Health Management Systems, West Des Moines, Iowa, for an estimated $6.1 million, including $4.75 million in cash and assumption of liabilities. PACE specializes in clinical documentation and case management products that will support 3M’s computer based patient record system.
MERGER STRENGTHENS IMPLEMENTATION CAPABILITY
DAOU Systems, Inc., San Diego, and Resources in Healthcare Innovations (RHI), Indianapolis, have announced a merger transaction valued at $54 million. RHI, which implements most major healthcare software systems nationwide, will continue to operate from Indianapolis, and the company’s president, Parker Hinshaw, will continue as president of the business unit, DAOU-RHI, Inc.
SOFTWARE SALE
Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., Tucson, Ariz., sold its Managed Care Manager Payor software product to Monument Systems, Inc., Tucson, Ariz. Before taxes, income from the sale was $400,000. Sunquest made the sale to focus on clinical products.
MERGER FOLLOWS STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
MediSolution, Toronto, has acquired Health Plus Systems, Inc. (HPSI), a software development company in Calgary, Alberta. The acquisition comes after a strategic alliance in 1997, when MediSolution became sole Canadian distributor of HPSI’s Simplicity Plus, a pharmacy practice management system.
COMMISSION ACCREDITS TELEPHONE TRIAGE
The American HealthCare Commission/URAC, Washington, D.C., adopted accreditation standards for 24-hour Telephone Triage and Health Information (THI). The commission has imposed standards for the following areas of THI: confidentiality, staff qualifications, program qualifications, accessibility, information on which clinical activity is conducted, documentation and health information.
ACCESS HEALTH, INC. ACQUIRES INTERQUAL
Access Health, Inc., Broomfield, Colo., announced the acquisition of InterQual, Marlborough, Mass., a clinical decision support criteria and systems provider. Access Health issued 4.54 million shares of common stock in exchange for outstanding shares of InterQual. Access Health is a clinically-based care management program and health information services provider.
HEALTHEON FILES FOR IPO
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Healtheon Corp. says it plans to take its health information business public. The company, formed in 1995 by Netscape co-founder Jim Clark, provides Internet-based administrative services to physicians.