Aetna announces agreement to acquire Medicity

Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Medicity, a health information exchange technology company, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. A leading innovator in provider solutions, Medicity offers a broad range of products and services that enable health systems, hospitals, physician practices and health information exchanges to securely access and exchange health care information, improving the quality and efficiency of patient care and reducing unnecessary health care costs. Medicity markets its products and services locally, regionally and nationally.

“This acquisition will enable Aetna to offer a set of convenient, easy-to-access technology solutions for physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. That, in turn, can help improve the quality and efficiency of patient care”

The purchase price is approximately $500 million. Aetna expects to finance the acquisition with available resources. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust regulatory approval. The transaction is projected to be neutral to Aetna's financial results in 2011.

Medicity's connected network provides collaboration and coordination of care delivered through a variety of communications tools, which helps physicians and other health care providers get timely clinical information about patients using the platform of their choice. Medicity's health information exchange (HIE) technology reaches more than 760 hospitals, 125,000 physician users and 250,000 end users.

The company has:

• The largest installed base of enterprise HIE systems for hospitals, physicians and other health care providers;
• A substantial presence in the emerging state and regional health information exchange marketplaces;
• A proven track record of implementation. Medicity has demonstrated an ability to connect to many different types of information systems that provide physicians and other users with information necessary to make better informed health care decisions;
• A flexible technology platform that, combined with Aetna resources, will enable development of new business offerings;
• A record of sustained, strong growth in recent years.

"This acquisition will enable Aetna to offer a set of convenient, easy-to-access technology solutions for physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. That, in turn, can help improve the quality and efficiency of patient care," said Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna CEO and president. "Strategically, we believe this acquisition will enhance Aetna's capabilities and accelerate our growth in the health information technology and health information exchange space."

"We are excited about joining Aetna, with the shared vision for improving the health care experience for all stakeholders," said James K. 'Kipp' Lassetter, M.D., Medicity chairman and CEO. "The combination of Medicity's connected health care platform for providers with the clinical decision support capabilities of Aetna's ActiveHealth Management subsidiary can help physicians make better decisions in real-time as they collaborate and coordinate care."

Medicity will operate as a separate business within Aetna, under its existing leadership structure.