Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Outreach Advantage Solution from Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories
Acquisition Solidifies Sunquest’s Leadership in the Community and Physician Outreach Market
Tucson, AZ, December 18, 2008 – Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., a market leader in laboratory and diagnostic information systems, and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML), one of the nation’s top clinical reference laboratories, today announced a definitive agreement for Sunquest to acquire the Outreach Advantage solution suite from PAML. The acquisition complements the existing Sunquest solutions, establishing the most comprehensive suite of outreach business management solutions in the industry. The Sunquest Outreach suite will provide laboratory outreach customers with a single-vendor, end-to-end solution for delivering efficient, high quality service to patients and physicians in a connected healthcare model. Combining Sunquest’s best-of-suite LIS solutions with Outreach Advantage (OA) solutions will enable hospitals and laboratories to compete more successfully for outreach business, reduce their operational costs, and enhance their ability to successfully build, manage, and service physician and patient relationships in the community.
“Sunquest recognizes the strategic importance of well-managed outreach programs to hospitals,” says Richard Atkin, president and CEO of Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. “An efficient and well managed laboratory contributes significantly to overall hospital revenues and creates opportunities for other services within the hospital. Patient and physician relationships and satisfaction are among the top concerns for hospital administrators; having an effective outreach program provides visibility and enhances the reputation of the laboratory and hospital in the community. Adding Outreach Advantage to our portfolio represents another milestone in our strategy to provide solutions that address the business and growth needs of laboratory and hospital administrators.”
”The Outreach Advantage suite was developed to enable hospital laboratories to meet and exceed the industry’s highest service standards, and that has proven to be true for PAML and our affiliates,” says Dr. Tom Tiffany, CEO and president of Pathology Associates Medical Laboratory. “Sunquest has the necessary expertise, depth of resources, and business understanding to take these invaluable technologies to the next level.”
The OA suite provides customer relationship management tools, sales and marketing business intelligence, mobile courier management, and connectivity tools for integrating and interfacing with EMRs, Web, LIS, and other enterprise systems. PAML implemented the Outreach Advantage suite in conjunction with its Sunquest LIS in its main lab and in independent community affiliates. PAML launched the Outreach Advantage business line nationally in October 2007.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2009.
Strong Market Opportunity for Hospital Outreach
The global economic environment makes it strategically imperative for hospitals and laboratories to maximize their revenue opportunities, lower their cost of care, and expand their business outreach to physicians and patients in the community. Sunquest’s expanded outreach portfolio represents the industry’s most powerful and comprehensive suite of clinical, financial, and outreach information technology solutions from a single vendor.
Industry experts have conveyed that 83% of physician practices do not have an office based Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, which would give them the ability to remotely place laboratory orders and view results. Laboratory data is the information physicians request most often from hospitals. With the addition of Outreach Advantage, Sunquest will provide progressive outreach programs with a full range of connectivity options regardless of the available IT infrastructure used by physicians in the community.
”The majority of healthcare today is delivered beyond the walls of the hospital, in physician’s offices and patient service centers in the community,” commented Dr. Tiffany. “Outreach Advantage tools should facilitate hospitals to increase their proportion of outreach testing. The ability to provide local, personalized service to patients and practitioners is the hallmark of a successful outreach program. Outreach Advantage has enabled PAML and our affiliated laboratories to exceed customer expectations, improve client retention, and reduce costs associated with delivering higher levels of service.”
About
Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories
Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML), a subsidiary of Providence
Health and Services, is headquartered in Spokane Washington. PAML operates a
state-of-the-art, full-service reference laboratory and maintains other
laboratory operations throughout the western United States. PAML is recognized
as a national leader in the area of hospital partnering and laboratory joint
ventures. PAML is a cofounder of PacLab Laboratories, which provides laboratory
services throughout Seattle and western Washington, and is a partner in several
other hospital based laboratory joint ventures, including Tri-Cities Laboratory
in central Washington and Treasure Valley Laboratory in Boise, Idaho. For more
information, visit www.paml.com.
About Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.
Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. is a global market leader in laboratory and diagnostic information solutions. The company develops and markets best-of-suite solutions that improve productivity and enhance revenue through workflow excellence, enable customers to exceed patient safety goals, enhance physician and patient affinity within the community, and position leaders to drive success in the era of predictive and personalized medicine. Sunquest introduced the concept of the Five Rights of Laboratory Testing to champion the importance of the laboratory in the safe delivery of healthcare.
Sunquest is a recognized leader in customer service and on-time implementations with more than 1,300 hospitals and commercial laboratories using its solutions worldwide. The company’s experienced sales and technical service teams deliver assistance to customers for their procurement, implementation, and customer care needs. Its professional services division provides a wide array of management and technical tools, including lab redesign and optimization, outreach and lab network program development, and operational business and implementation plans. For more information, call 800-748-0692 or visit: www.sunquestinfo.com.
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Sunquest is a Trademark of Sunquest Information Systems, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.