Experian Announces Acquisition of Medical Claims Management Firm Medical Present Value

Experian, an information services and analytics company, recently announced their intent to purchase medical claims management software provider Medical Present Value. This acquisition will bolster Experian’s existing healthcare product portfolio from single channel payment optimization to multichannel payment optimization. Experian will gain the ability to optimize payments from patients, commercial payers, and government programs to both hospitals and physician practices. This acquisition will extend Experian’s focus beyond hospitals and into the large practice market.

A History With Medical Claims Management

Medical Present Value serves more than 75,000 clients in the medical claims management space. Their software suite consists of patient and payer management solutions that enable practices and hospitals to improve collections, minimize denied claims, and shorten the time to reimbursement.

Experian entered the healthcare market with its acquisition of SearchAmerica in 2008. SearchAmerica was a provider of healthcare data, scoring, and analytical software for financial decisions. Experian’s purchase of MPV for $185 million is over twice as large as the previous SearchAmerica purchase for $90 million, signaling a greater investment and presence in the healthcare software solutions industry. With the recent healthcare reforms mandating digitization and the reality of a severely outdated provider infrastructure, medical information technology seems to be a prime growth sector.

Excited Leaders

Dan Johnson, Experian’s president of Healthcare Services commented on the impact of the purchase:

“Health care providers in the U.S. face growing challenges when it comes to billing and collecting payments for services. With the addition of MPV, Experian is able to provide a more comprehensive set of products and services across the healthcare payments life cycle and help clients manage multiple vendors through a single point of contact.”

He also highlighted MPV as a crucial step in “…providing hospitals with smarter data and innovative products and services that help them produce a healthier bottom line” by  expanding healthcare offerings through MPV’s network.

Tom Stampiglia, CEO of MPV, expressed his excitement over the acquisition:

“We are extremely pleased to be part of Experian and will continue to provide products and services that improve business processes throughout the healthcare revenue cycle. At the core of our efforts, we will be leveraging the full range of capabilities of both organizations to help healthcare providers optimize their financial health.”

Experian’s expanding presence into the medical software industry may spur other large companies to examine the sector’s growth prospects. The medical system is poised for large growth, especially considering the passage of mandatory insurance.

What do you think about Experian’s march into the medical claims management and revenue cycle management space? Is the sector poised for a growth explosion? Is there a danger of a bubble? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.