Press Release - July 24, 2007 - BusinessWire

Picis to Acquire LYNX Medical Systems

Combined company creates most comprehensive end-to-end clinical information and financial automation system for hospital emergency departments

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Picis, the leading global provider of high-acuity care information systems, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LYNX Medical Systems of Bellevue, Wash. LYNX provides revenue cycle management solutions to hospital emergency departments and Picis provides the market-leading clinical information system for emergency care. The combined companies will now offer a powerful solution that provides the most comprehensive end-to-end system to manage, automate and optimize both the clinical information and financial functions of hospital emergency departments. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition, anticipated to close later this summer, was funded in part by Goldman Sachs & Co. through an equity investment in Picis and a senior debt issue, which was also announced separately today.

Picis provides hospital emergency departments with a comprehensive and integrated emergency department information system (EDIS) through its CareSuite ED PulseCheck® application. ED PulseCheck helps emergency departments markedly reduce patient wait times and increase throughput while helping to improve clinical documentation, charge capture and patient satisfaction. LYNX’s E/Point and E/Code software and services dramatically improve accuracy in coding procedures (through CMS-audited algorithms) resulting in increased revenue and patient acuity levels, decreased accounts receivable days and minimized compliance risk. Case studies have shown that LYNX customers achieve increased revenue amounting to $25-$35 per ED visit.

The two companies’ combined expertise and solutions will create the most robust, integrated end-to-end solution that closely links clinical documentation with coding and reimbursement revenue management. In essence, the combined solution will track patients from initial contact through disposition, and help hospitals to realize maximum revenue and reimbursement for the services they provide. The solution is specifically designed for the needs of the hospital emergency department, one of the fastest growing departments in today’s hospitals.

“From every perspective, short and long term, strategically, financially, and operationally, this acquisition represents another major milestone for Picis,” said Todd Cozzens, Picis president and CEO. “We are not only acquiring complementary technology and services, but also a proven management team, product development expertise and a sales force with a demonstrable track record of success operating in the same markets as ours. We believe we will be the only company able to offer our customers a truly differentiated, integrated and cost-effective tool to manage the growing complexities of the emergency department, the fastest growing hospital care department. We are looking forward to working with our new colleagues at LYNX to quickly bring the benefits of our combined solution to the marketplace and to further serve the over 1,350 hospitals which make up our combined installed base.”

To determine reimbursement amounts for the hospital and physician, a hospital adds insurance and reimbursement codes to a patient’s record before submitting to payers through charge tickets. In-house or outsourced coding experts use the physician’s and nurse’s clinical documentation to align the care a patient received with costs incurred and revenue generated. As a result of poor or incomplete charting and lost or forgotten charge ticket completion, hospitals and physicians frequently do not have quality documentation to support adequate reimbursement rates. In the emergency department, where hundreds of patients are seen each day and where time is of the essence, this situation is particularly true. By combining ED PulseCheck’s clinical care information system with LYNX’s coding optimization software and services, hospitals will more efficiently than ever align the actual patient care delivered with accurate and correct coding and billing, helping to dramatically increase both professional fees and facility revenue, and thereby reducing billing cycles.

“The combination of Picis and LYNX will create an organization that is uniquely positioned and qualified to address the substantial information management challenges and opportunities of the growing high-acuity healthcare market,” said Gene Cattarina, president and chief executive officer of LYNX Medical Systems. “We view this as a 'win' for our customers, shareholders and employees.”

About Picis

Picis is the leading global provider of innovative healthcare information technology solutions designed to transform the delivery of patient care information in the high-acuity areas of the hospital, including the emergency department, operating and recovery rooms and intensive care units. Picis offers the most advanced suite of integrated products focused on these life-critical areas of the hospital where the patients are the most vulnerable, the care process is the most complex and an increasing majority of hospital costs are incurred. Headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Picis has licensed systems for use in more than 1,000 hospitals in 19 countries. More information is available at www.picis.com.

About LYNX Medical Systems, Inc.

LYNX Medical Systems, a company founded in 1984 by Dr. Mason Smith, an emergency care physician, drives value in emergency medicine through industry leading content, software tools and services that advance revenue and profitability, while ensuring compliance and consistency. LYNX solutions help hospitals improve ED clinical documentation, reduce compliance risk, and ensure accurate and consistent code assignment for appropriate reimbursement. LYNX clients maintain a consistent, documented and repeatable return on investment. Currently, LYNX serves more than 350 healthcare organizations, representing over 15 million annual encounters. Picis acquired LYNX from Francisco Partners, the owner of LYNX and a leading global private equity firm focused exclusively on investments in technology and technology-enabled services businesses.

Picis is a registered trademark of Picis, Inc. © 2007 Picis, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks mentioned herein are the properties of their respective owners. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Picis’ expectations concerning marketing plans, market acceptance of its products, and management’s plans, objectives and strategies. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Picis’ control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things, our ability to convince hospitals to shift from existing methods of collecting clinical data to our automated software solutions; competition; changing customer requirements; market acceptance of our software products; claims that we or our technologies infringe upon the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of a third party and product liability claims relating to our products or services or our customers’ use of our products or services.

Contacts

Picis
Deb Pappas, +1 781-557-3395
Corporate Communications
deb_pappas@picis.com
or
Schwartz Communications, Inc.
Dana Conti, 1 781-684-0770
Fax: 1 781-684-6500
picis@schwartz-pr.com