Move Signals athenahealth Expansion Into Mobile Device Offerings

It’s a new year and let the acquisitions begin.  Today, athenahealth announced it will acquire mobile medical apps company Epocrates for $293 million. Both companies are traded on NASDAQ. The move signals athenahealth’s to increase its number of medical professionals it serves and expand product offerings for mobile devices. Epocrates is used by 330,000 physicians.

In the press release issued by athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush said “I have been an admirer of Epocrates since it first emerged and have watched the company grow consistently, one app download at a time, as it has cemented itself into the consciousness of America’s physicians. No other company has been able to replicate the brand awareness, familiarity, and trust that Epocrates has across the clinical mobile user base. We are confident that we can provide Epocrates with the stewardship and resources it needs to grow and develop within health care, and that Epocrates’ capabilities are going to mesh exceptionally well with athenahealth’s cloud-based physician and patient services. Together, we’re excited by the opportunity to redefine the mobile toolset for care givers.”

The release also lists key ways the Epocrates acquisition will boost athenahealth’s offierings:

• Better Information Access for Health Organizations — By combining Epocrates’ mobile expertise with knowledge and data from athenahealth’s cloud-based network, the combined company will be uniquely positioned to introduce new mobile applications that deliver high-value information to the clinical community when, where, and how they want it.
• Advanced Mobile Workflows — the combined company will seek to pioneer new mobile workflows to improve provider efficiency and support care delivery outcomes; initial efforts will focus on care coordination, provider-to-provider communication, and patient engagement tools.
• Accelerated Awareness and Growth Across the Physician Market — athenahealth would expand its current provider base of 38,000 to include the more than one million health care professionals on the Epocrates network, allowing athenahealth to build upon the highly favored Epocrates brand, recognized today by approximately 90 percent of practicing U.S. physicians.

Epocrates shareholders have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the sale. The deal is expected to close sometime in the second quarter.