Ingenix Buys CareMedic Services

UnitedHealth Group's HIT subsidiary Ingenix finalized its second major acquisition in less than six months today with the announcement that it will purchase CareMedic Services Inc., a revenue cycle management specialist for hospitals and health systems.

Terms of the cash deal were not disclosed.

"With CareMedic, we will transform [revenue cycle management] RCM from a group of fragmented, claims-centric processes to a more comprehensive, patient-centric financial information management system," said Bill Miller, executive vice president of health care delivery at Ingenix. "The RCM systems available today lack interoperability between front-end and back-end functions, slowing cash flow and impeding a hospital's ability to collect payment for services that have been provided. Our vision and combined capabilities will create a customizable enterprise-wide analytics solution for hospitals that seamlessly connects to other systems."

CareMedic CEO Sheila Schweitzer said Ingenix's experience in reimbursement, health information management, and consulting will complement CareMedic's experience in RCM. "We will create a unified solution that makes hospitals more efficient at managing cash flow and enhances our commitment to helping clients get paid," Schweitzer said. "As part of Ingenix, we will be able to provide clients with additional services and continued innovations that help them use capital more effectively and improve operational efficiency."

CareMedic has contracts with more than 2,500 providers in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The news was just the latest announcement for Ingenix, which has had an eventful year.

In June, Ingenix acquired Franklin, TN-based medical bills auditor AIM Healthcare Services Inc., and its Netwerkes and Ingram & Associates affiliate. The terms of the all cash sale were not disclosed.

In January, Ingenix and parent UnitedHealth agreed to a $400 million settlement with the New York Attorney General's office to resolve what investigators called "an industry-wide investigation into a scheme to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates."