Business
Allscripts acquires A4 Health Systems
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 6, 2006
Allscripts LLC signed an agreement Jan. 19 to acquire A4 Health Systems Inc., a Cary, N.C.-based vendor of physician practice management and electronic medical records software to small- and medium-sized practices, for $272 million in cash and stock.
In a related development, Chicago-based Allscripts and General Electric Co., which sell competing physician practice management and EMR software products, announced they have amended the terms of their strategic alliance.
Under the amended agreement, GE and its IDX Systems unit will continue to market Allscripts' EMR as well as GE's EMR to existing IDX practice management clients for the next 18 months. During that period, Allscripts is barred from marketing any acquired practice management system to current IDX clients. But both companies are free to market their own products to potential new clients without restriction.
Allscripts and GE also agreed to support integration of the Allscripts and IDX products for the next five years.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/02/06/bibf0206.htm.