Healthland, an electronic health records vendor that has been focused on the rural hospital market, acquired American HealthTech in May.
The combination of the companies “will help us build on interoperability,” said American HealthTech President Teresa Chase.
Skilled nursing provider customers “are thrilled,” she said. As more companies in the information tech sector combine their resources, SNF customers have been worried about being left behind.
Many of American HealthTech’s “friendly competitors” have been acquired due to evolving marketplace dynamics focused on consolidation, Chase noted.
“We didn’t want to be gobbled up [by the wrong kind of company],” she added.
Healthland CEO Angie Franks* clearly understands the long-term care market, and the Healthland and American HealthTech combination is a “win-win,” Chase said. “There are great opportunities for synergy.”
American HealthTech Chairman William E. Caldwell, who joined the company in 1979, retired a day before the announcement. Chase will now report to Franks.
Franks maintains Healthland can provide a “shared health record that follows the patient across the entire care continuum, including preventive, outpatient, inpatient, post-acute and in-home care.”
Healthland’s long-term care components currently include MDS documentation, Resident Assessment Protocol worksheets, clinical documentation and HCFA 672/802 reports.
Healthland, which has headquarters in Minneapolis, and American HealthTech, which is based in Jackson, MS, will retain their respective offices and have a combined staff of 450, Franks said. Healthland serves 500 hospitals in 40 states.
The sale was announced May 21. The purchase price was not disclosed.
*Editor’s Note: After this article went to press, Healthland announced that Chris Bauleke will assume the CEO position while Franks remains president. Bauleke was formerly the president of McKesson Corporation’s RelayHealth Enterprise Intelligence business unit.
From the July 01, 2013 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
