HEALTHEON: Stock Nearly Quadruples in First Day on Market
Healtheon Corp., the medical information services company founded by Netscape's Jim Clark, announced Wednesday evening an initial public offering of six million shares at $8 per share. The company saw its stock price nearly quadruple the next day, finishing at $31.37 on the Nasdaq market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The three-year-old company is developing ways to enable health care providers, including hospitals, physicians and labs, to share patient information and billing processes via the Internet. Although Healtheon continues to operate at a loss, financial analysts predict that the company --the "latest sensation among investors looking for an Internet play" -- will "reach breakeven in late 2000 or early 2001." The Journal reports that Healtheon attempted to go public in October, but withdrew its offering after receiving a "tepid" response from investors. Since then, the company has proven its ability to gain contracts and implement its Internet system, known as Healtheon Practice, for about 300 California physicians and for Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System (Anders, 2/12).
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