Health Information Companies Passport Health, Medicheck Merge
Franklin, Tenn.-based Passport Health Communications has merged with Los Angeles-based Medicheck Inc., in a deal that will make the combined company one of the nation's "largest providers of business transaction services to the health care industry," the Nashville Tennessean reports. Both companies focus primarily on linking insurance payers to providers, who can conduct electronic transactions, including checking patient eligibility and benefit levels and submitting claims online. Medicheck currently does business with about 40% of California's hospitals. The new entity, which will keep the name Passport Health and maintain headquarters in Franklin, will have a customer base of more than 400 hospitals and 15,000 physicians and a "database of payers representing approximately 120 million patient lives." Jim Lackey, Passport's president and CEO, said, "Combined, we now serve 8% to 10% of all hospitals in the United States" (Russell, Nashville Tennessean, 6/6).
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