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Telstra’s ehealth services subsidiary is set to pick up Australian independent software vendor (ISV) MedicalDirector, claiming it has an enterprise value of $350 million.
MedicalDirector provides software-as-a-service solutions to the healthcare industry, covering electronic health records, patient and practice management, billing, scheduling, care coordination, medicines information and clinical content to about 23,000 medical practitioners.
The funds for the acquisition will be advised by Affinity Equity partners, with the transaction expected to close sometime during the first quarter of the 2022 financial year.
The planned acquisition of the ISV is considered to be a “key step” in Telstra Health’s overall vision, according to its board chair Brendon Riley.
Credit: Telstra Health “GPs [General practitioners] play a central role in connecting to every part of the health and aged care systems, and practice management is an incredibly important addition for Telstra Health in providing quality solutions and supporting them to deliver care," he said.
“Telstra Health has transformed substantially over the past five years and this announcement reflects its continuing maturity as a business and its importance as part of Telstra’s long-term growth strategy. It also reflects its continued growth into a global business, including strengthening our existing presence in the UK where MedicalDirector has been establishing itself in recent years.”
Telstra Health managing director Mary Foley echoed Riley’s sentiments, adding that the subsidiary will look to bolster MedicalDirector’s offering in the near future.
“Patient care journeys move back and forth across home, clinics, hospitals, aged-care and pharmacies. This acquisition helps realise our vision to connect and co-ordinate across the continuum of care, enabling smoother experiences for those who need it and provide it,” she said.
“Digital solutions support operational efficiency and effectiveness and help clinicians and other care providers solve some of the complex problems they face in the delivery of care.”
“We will significantly increase investment in MedicalDirector to provide medical practitioners with the best digital solutions, across desktop and cloud, to support the future delivery of primary health care.
“I am excited about the opportunity to continue to grow MedicalDirector, combining its sophisticated solutions with Telstra Health’s clinical and health system capabilities, including our expert team of medical practitioners (including GPs), health information managers and other health experts.”
Matthew Bardsley, MedicalDirector CEO, said that he was looking forward to working with Telstra Health.
“The ability to bring our knowledge, trusted industry leading products and our team to support the vision of Telstra Health is recognition of the great business we have built,” he added.
The subsidiary’s buy of MedicalDirector follows its 70 per cent stake in Adelaide-headquartered billing, costing and revenue solution vendor PowerHealth, which it announced in July it would pay $90 million.
It also follows Sydney-based managed service provider Xcellerate IT’s contract win to implement Kofax ReadSoft Online, a dedicated cloud-based accounts payable automation solution, for Telstra Health, which was also announced in July.
