Emdeon to Buy Altegra Health in $910 Million Deal

Nashville-based claims clearinghouse and revenue cycle management vendor Emdeon has agreed to acquire risk adjustment and analytics vendor Altegra Health for $910 million in cash.

Altegra Health's cloud-based analytics platform and related healthcare consumer engagement capabilities will enhance Emdeon’s Intelligent Healthcare Network clearinghouse operation—which processed about 8.1 billion transactions last year—by helping customers elevate care quality, optimize financial performance and improve the member/patient experience, according to Emdeon.

“Altegra Health has created leading end-to-end solutions that provide health plans and other risk-bearing organizations with the data, insights and related services they need to expertly manage care, ensure appropriate reimbursement and engage individuals in improving their use of the healthcare system,” said Neil de Crescenzo, Emdeon’s president and CEO, in a written statement. “By adding these capabilities and leveraging our Intelligent Healthcare Network, we can further expand the products and services we provide our customers as they address the needs of value-based healthcare.”

Operating in all 50 states, Altegra Health offers its products and services nationally in partnership with Medicare Advantage and Managed Medicaid health plans, as well as health plans operating on the commercial healthcare exchanges. Late last year, Emdeon announced that it was buying another healthcare consumer engagement vendor with a national customer base of health plans—Change Healthcare—for $185 million.

Also See: Emdeon to Pay $185 Million for Change Healthcare

For its much larger acquisition of Altegra Health, Emdeon anticipates paying with a combination of available cash and proceeds from new debt and equity financing. The acquisition, subject to customary anti-trust review, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.