Major medical biller goes public as health reform raises expectations for sector

Emdeon Inc., a company that processed nearly half of all electronic medical claims in the United States last year, is going public in an IPO this week, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Financial analysts say the company appears to offer a firm investment opportunity as a market leader in a sector poised to boom if health care reform efforts succeed, and especially if new investments in health information technology are part of the overhaul.

"Emdeon isn't shy about outlining the benefits it believes it will reap from health-care reform: financial incentives [paid for by the stimulus bill] will encourage more electronic prescribing and record management; demand could rise for cost comparison data that it collects; and, of course, if health insurance coverage is expanded for more than 45 million uninsured Americans, more claims will be generated for it to process," the Journal reports (Cowan, 8/10).