Merge Healthcare's iConnect Network Gets New Features
Chicago-based leading healthcare software solutions provider Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) has initiated electronic referrals and online order management on its pioneer iConnect Network. This latest version of the iConnect Network will allow the company's customers to optimize their referral networks and maximize their reimbursements.
Following this news, Merge Healthcare's share price dropped 4.8% to eventually close at $2.18 yesterday.
Merge Healthcare's advanced iConnect Network allows hospitals, healthcare providers and imaging centers to exchange imaging information electronically with community physicians connected to Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) or electronic health records (:EHR) networks. This entire networking system allows healthcare organizations to further streamline workflow, reduce costs, increase referrals and meet Meaningful Use (MU) requirements.
The company has launched this new version of the iConnect Network in collaboration with the Southwest Diagnostic Imaging Center– one of the largest freestanding imaging centers in North Texas. Management expects the new electronic patient referrals and online ordering features of this network to enhance quality patient care and advance interoperability.
With this edition, iConnect Network has brought electronic order processing and patient referrals into the existing data exchange network, delivering orders directly into imaging center sites and automatically pushing results back into the physician's EHR. Also, this launch has resulted in all-time high EHR adoption rates and enhanced MU requirements.
Merge Healthcare signed 7 new customers for iConnect Network in the last reported quarter, bringing the total tally to 29 customers contracted since the system was launched early in the year. The number accounts for more than 10% of Merge Healthcare's total radiology ambulatory client base.
We expect the revamped iConnect Network to propel a rise in the overall client base, ushering in more profits at the company.
Currently, Merge Healthcare carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector include ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI), OraSure Technologies, Inc. (OSUR) and ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc. (ZLTQ). All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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