UnitedHealth ups ante on health IT with purchase of Picis, expecting stimulus windfall

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal: UnitedHealth Group's technology consulting subsidiary Ingenix, of Eden Prairie, Minn., has purchased Massachusetts tech firm Picis, a maker of emergency room and intensive care software. "Both companies are deeply involved in the area where health care and information technology meet. Ingenix, which had revenue of $1.8 billion last year, provides consulting and outsourcing to almost 6,000 hospitals. Picis, which has its headquarters in Wakefield, Mass., develops software primarily to emergency departments, surgical departments and intensive care units. Picis officials say its systems are installed in more than 1,800 medical centers, hospitals and integrated delivery networks in 19 countries" (Black, 7/22).

Modern Healthcare adds, "According to a news release from Ingenix, the electronic health-record system subsidy program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will boost sales at Picis. In particular, Picis will benefit from a rule change issued by the CMS July 13 that allows physician orders in emergency departments to count toward a requirement that hospitals use computerized physician order entry systems to qualify for federal subsidy payments" (Conn, 7/22).

MedCity News: Business is already good for such firms. "The high-acuity segment of the health information technology market has been growing at nearly twice the rate of the overall HIT market over the past several years, according to the statement. Growth in the market is expected to be further spurred by the injection of $46 billion in federal subsidies to support the purchase of electronic health records system by doctors and hospitals" (Glenn, 7/22).