Big News in Clinical Laboratory Informatics as Roper Industries Agrees to Pay $1.4 Billion to Acquire Sunquest

Medical labs and pathology groups using Sunquest LIS products likely to see positive changes from Sunquest’s fourth change in ownership since 2001

In what is likely to be the biggest deal in clinical laboratory and pathology informatics for this year, Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE: ROP), of Sarasota, Florida, will acquire Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona. The purchase price is an impressive $1.42 billion dollars and the deal was announced on Monday this week.

Roper Industries will get a lot for its money. Sunquest holds a significant share of the nation’s market for laboratory information systems (LIS). Sunquest has also built a substantial market share in anatomic pathology informatics, anchored by its CoPath and PowerPath products.

Sales Price of $1.42 Billion for Sunquest and Its Clinical Lab Software

What some may consider an eye-popping sales price of $1.42 billion for Sunquest demonstrates that investor interest in all aspects of the clinical laboratory testing marketplace remains strong. In its second quarter conference call, executives at Roper Industries told the financial analysts that, during 2013, they expect Sunquest to generate $140 million in EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). If true, that would indicate that the sales price is based upon approximately a 10-times multiple of Sunquest’s EBIDTA. (more…)

Ranking Top 10 Hospital EMR Vendors by Number of Installed Systems

Clinical pathology laboratories will keep busy interfacing their LISs to these EMRs

Tis the season of electronic health records (EHR), now that both hospitals and physicians can qualify to earn incentives from the federal government when they implement these solutions and meet “meaningful use” criteria.

It is possible for individual hospitals to receive incentives totaling as much as $2 million for implementing a certified EHR. This is powerful motivation for cash-strapped hospitals. For that reason, pathologists and clinical laboratory managers of hospital laboratories can expect to be busy ensuring that their laboratory information system (LIS) interfaces properly with the EMR of their parent hospital.

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Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems Are Here: Is Your Clinical Laboratory and Pathology Group Ready?

Modern Healthcare’s list of Top Ten Hospital EHR Vendors Has Insights for Lab Managers

Published data indicates that about 90% of the nation’s hospitals have implemented an electronic health record (EHR) system. This remarkable statistic has direct implications for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, since typically 70% or more of a patient’s permanent health record is comprised of laboratory test data.

However, the 90% EHR adoption rate among the nation’s hospitals masks a more provocative truth: only a limited number of hospitals and health systems have implemented an EHR system that is fully integrated and presents a complete patient health record in real time. Thus, many hospitals are using EHR systems that fall far short of allowing clinicians to work exclusively with a complete paperless health record.

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