Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 54)

www.HealthcareITNews.com vENdoRS October 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 53 CHaNgEs Continued from page 51 “Our customer bases are identical,” said James Burgess, Healthland’s CEO. “It’s really the perfect kind of acquisition for us.” Burgess and Angie Franks, Healthland’s senior vice president of marketing and sales, said the acquisition would build on Healthland’s goal to provide electronic medical records and financial software services to the rural healthcare provider. The APS deal adds 140 customers to Healthland’s 350-customer portfolio and, according to Healthland executives, makes the company the largest supplier of IT solutions to critical access and small community hospitals in the nation. “There’s an additional depth of product knowledge in the financial area,” Franks pointed out. Burgess said Healthland focuses on small community-based hospitals that don’t have the resources to staff an IT department, so they rely on their vendors to install and maintain IT systems. By maintaining a small-town atmosphere in the company, he said, they appeal to their customers on a more personal level. “The way these folks buy (their IT systems) is they ask their neighbor, ‘What are you using?’” he said. “Keeping close ties to our customers is how we succeed.” Fr a n k s and Burgess said both the name change and the acquisition of APS were Angie Franks launched last year, and it’s only coincidence that the two initiatives have come to fruition at the same time. The goal of the name change, Franks said, is to push the company to a larger stage without losing the small-town feel. “Our people have very deep roots in the small towns of America and we are committed to these communities,” she said. “We live there, we care about what happens there and we get involved in the issues that affect these communities – and that includes issues affecting their community hospitals. We wanted our name to express our commitment to helping these community hospitals provide the best healthcare to the people who live in their communities.” In a related note, the company announced a new executive-level position, vice president of customer experience. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: cHaNGeS 1008 emdeon seeks $460 million in iPo By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor NASHVILLE, TN – Emdeon Business Services, a developer of revenue and payment cycle management solutions, is looking to raise as much as $460 million through an initial public offering of stock, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company, which employs 2,250, announced on September 12 that it intends to list the Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s software processed 3.7 billion transactions last year, and revenues were reported at $808.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $182.8 million and generated net income of $16 million. Based on the first half of this year, earnings are expected to jump to $12 million on revenue of $851 million. The company’s network reportedly includes 1,200 payers, 500,000 providers, 5,000 hospitals, 77,000 dentists and 55,000 pharmacies. The company expects to use proceeds from the IPO to purchase some interests held by private equity owners and for working capital and general corporate purposes, including repayment of debt and funding future acquisitions. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: iPo 1008 ● Taking care of the little things makes all the difference. We connect more providers to more payers than anyone else. But what really sets us apart is all the little things we do for both that make the business of claims and payments so much more efficient. Discover how Emdeon is changing the business of healthcare. Visit www.emdeon.com today. ● What unique challenges do rural healthcare providers face, as opposed to large healthcare systems? send your comments to Managing Editor Eric Wicklund at eric.wicklund@medtechpublishing. com. Simplifying the Business of Healthcare Patient Access Management • Claim Management • Remittance & Payment Distribution • Patient Billing & Payment e ● Connect: eMDeoN 1008 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10117 http://www.himssvirtual.org http://www.himssvirtual.org http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10110

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - October 2008

Healthcare IT News - October 2008 Contents Seattle's Slate Board 2.0 MGMA Newsmaker IT Battles Infection Beyond Adoption Excellence in Maine Carrot and Stick HP Layoffs Mobile Workstations Automating Offices

Healthcare IT News - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.