Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 65)

www.HealthcareITNews.com February 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 65 NEWSBRIEFS ElSEvIER addS to aNalytIcS poRtFolIo WIth mEdaI dEal Elsevier, a Netherlands-based publisher of medical information products and services, has added to its predictive analytics suite of services with the acquisition of MEDai, Inc., an Orlando, Fla.-based provider of healthcare claims analyses. MEDai’s predictive analytics solutions focus on severity adjustment, benchmarking and evidence-based care processes. Payers and care management companies use the company’s products to predict patients at risk, identify cost drivers for high-risk populations, map out future health plan costs and evaluate patient patterns over time. The company’s acquisition gives Elsevier an expanded customer base of large health insurance companies. Investors spar over Medquist’s future Minority shareholders fight to prevent ‘fire sale’. By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor MOUNT LAUREL, NJ – A Boston-based investment firm with a 5.2-percent stake in MedQuist is warning managers of the troubled healthcare IT company that any attempts at a so-called “fire sale” will be met with legal action. Costa Brava Partnership III, L.P. recently announced that it would hold MedQuist’s newly-elected board of directors liable if minority shareholders aren’t awarded equal value for their shares as majority shareholder Royal Philips Electronics NV. Costa Brava has threatened to file for damages under U.S. shareholder protection laws or even seek an injunction against any sale of the company. Philips announced last year that it is willing to sell its 70-percent stake in the coun- try, having identified it as a non-core holding. That prompted MedQuist officials to announce on Nov. 2, 2007 that they would evaluate the possible sale of the company. One week later, the three independent members of MedQuist’s board of directors – N. John Simmons Jr., Richard H. Stowe and John H. Underwood – abruptly resigned. The company said the resignations were the result of a disagreement between the INvEsTors see page 67 Picking an EMR solution Private-sector healthcare IT executives were asked about their EMR implementation plans. Kavveri Telecom buys Spotwave Wireless By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor ophthalmIc ImagINg BuyS BaNkRupt acERmEd AcerMed, Inc., a CCHIT-certified ambulatory EMR/PM software vendor that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September, has been sold to Ophthalmic Imaging Systems of Sacramento, Calif., a majority-owned subsidiary of MediVision and provider of ophthalmic digital imaging and informatics solutions. The Irvine, Calif.-based AcerMed had flourished for close to two decades before falling on hard times, due in part to legal issues. 10% 17% 14% 59% SOuRCE: CITRIx SYSTEMS, 2007 e ● Connect: GraPHS 0208 allScRIptS EyES hoSpItalS WIth EcIN acquISItIoN Allscripts, long known for its clinical software and information systems for physicians, is taking aim at hospitals now with the purchase of the Extended Care Information Network, a Chicago-based provider of hospital care management and discharge planning software. The deal, valued at roughly $90 million, enables Allscripts, also based in Chicago, to coordinate the exchange of information between hospitals, physicians based outside the hospital and post-acute care facilities. The company also announced the formation of a new Hospital Solutions Group to combine ECIN’s offerings with Allscripts’ emergency department information systems (EDIS) and Canopy care management solution. Francisco Partners gives AdvancedMD a boost By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor SALT LAKE CITY – Roughly one year Siemens’ MRI contest produces two winners Lockport Memorial Hospital garners most votes in creative Web contest. By Molly MErrIll, Associate Editor ago, officials at AdvancedMD figured the demand for their medical records management, billing and scheduling solutions would outpace their capital. Small physician practices, they reasoned, were slowly coming around to IT solutions that would enable them to work more closely with hospitals, yet still maintain their independence. On January 17, a year of quiet courtship came to a conclusion with the announcement that Francisco Partners, a San advaNCEd see page 68 – An India-based provider of antennas and radio frequency products for the wireless industry has purchased Spotwave Wireless, with hopes of reviving a company that had closed its doors last December after running out of capital. Kavveri Telecom Products Ltd. acquired Ottawa-based Spotwave and its U.S.-based subsidiary last month for an estimated $7 million. Company officials say they plan to retain only 21 of Spotwave’s 53 employees and take other steps to cut costs and improve margins. Spotwave Wireless, a six-yearold Canadian startup whose technology sought to improve cellphone reception inside highrises and other large buildings, was placed into receivership in early January after using up an OTTAWA estimated $36 million in venture capital. The company, which turned “smart antenna” technology into a line of SpotCell hardware that was marketed in Canada, the United States and China, had closed its doors abruptly in December. Spotwave’s U.S. and Canadian segments reported combined revenues of $10 million in 2007 and a loss of $5 million, with $2 million worth of orders on the books. “Spotwave’s patented intelligent adaptive repeater inbuilding solution is a key strategic addition to Kavveri’s existing engineered inbuilding product and services business,” said Shivakumar Reddy, managing director of Bangalore-based Kavveri. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: wireleSS 0208 ● BENEFItFocuS, coNNEctyouRcaRE aNNouNcE paRtNERShIp Benefitfocus, a Charleston, S.C.-based provider of software and services for the healthcare benefits market, has announced a partnership with ConnectYourCare, a Hunt Valley, Md.-based provider of Consumer Directed Healthcare account management solutions. Through the partnership, Benefitfocus will integrate ConnectYourCare’s CDH platform with its own products. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: VeNDorS 0208 ● – “Is it here yet?”, the title of the two-minute video entered in Siemens Medical Solutions’ MRI contest by Lockport Memorial Hospital of Lockport, N.Y., will soon be answered with a resounding “yes.” Siemens officials last month named the hospital the winner of a new Magnetom Essenza MRI, as part of an online contest that attracted more than 100 small hospitals across the country and garnered millions of votes. But Lockport isn’t the only winner. Siemens also announced that Sumter Regional Hospital of Americus, Ga., which was demolished by a tornado almost a year ago, will be receiving a free MRI. Siemens officials said the contest, which closed on Dec. 31, 2007, was very close. There were 101 community hospitals that entered the competition. Regional hospitals rallied their communities, put on campaigns and worked their public relations departments hard to come up with a short video clip that appealed to audiences’ humor and heartstrings. In just two months, the contest generated more LOCKPORT, NY Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, Ga., badly damaged in a tornado early last year, will receive a free MRI system from Siemens Medical Solutions. The hospital is one of two to receive a Magnetom Essenza MRI. than 2.68 million video viewings and 1.4 million votes. When voting closed on Dec. 31, it appeared that Sumter Hospital had garnered the most votes, while Lockport finished a distant third, 115,000 votes behind Sumter and 14,000 votes behind apparent second-place finisher Grant Regional Health Center of Lancaster, Wis. But Siemens officials said the results were checked by an CoNTEsT see page 66 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8642 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8646

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Healthcare It News - February 2008 Contents Hot Potato Wal-Mart Focus CIO Role Wasteland Linking Docs Katrina Work P4P Team Fire Sale? Emergency Systems Beyond Business

Healthcare It News - February 2008

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