Moving decisively to solidify its technology leadership among small community and critical access hospitals, Dairyland Healthcare Solutions today announced two significant developments: its acquisition of Advanced Professional Software, Inc. (APS) and the change of its company name to ‘Healthland.’
The acquisition of Waco, Texas-based APS–which becomes a division of the new Healthland–adds 140 new customers and makes Healthland the largest supplier of IT solutions to critical access and small community hospitals in America.
“This is a strategic acquisition for Healthland,” explained James Burgess, CEO of the newly combined companies. “By offering financial software, APS has gained a strong foothold in the rural healthcare market with an extremely loyal customer base. Now, these vital hospitals throughout rural America will have more technology choices to help them quickly advance their level of patient care and operational excellence. We are delighted to welcome APS to the Healthland family,” Burgess added. Healthland will operate through multiple business hubs including Glenwood and Minneapolis, MN, Louisville, KY and Waco, TX.
Both of these announcements mark key milestones in the company’s unfolding strategy to focus all of its resources on the small community and critical access hospital market. The name change to ‘Healthland’ is the end result of extensive research into the company’s strengths and core values. “Our people have very deep roots in the small towns of America and we are committed to these communities. We live there, we care about what happens there and we get involved in the issues that affect these communities–and that includes issues affecting their community hospitals,” explained Angie Franks, Healthland’s Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales. “We wanted our name to express our commitment to helping these community hospitals provide the best healthcare to the people who live in their communities. After thorough analysis of the market, it was clear that the name ‘Healthland’ best communicates what we are all about and at the same time acknowledges our heritage,” Franks added.
Healthland: Laser Focus on Small Community Hospitals
Healthland, which operated under the Dairyland Healthcare Solutions name for nearly 30 years, has a solid reputation as a knowledgeable, committed technology partner to the country’s small community hospitals. Since its acquisition in June 2007 by Francisco Partners, Healthland’s focus on community hospitals has emerged as the company’s central operating strategy. Healthland is a three-time “Best in KLAS” award winner in the Community Hospital Information Systems category. KLAS is an independent market research firm that monitors vendor performance through the active participation of thousands of healthcare organizations.
“We are dedicated exclusively to these small community hospitals and that commitment is reflected in everything we do,” explained Burgess. “Our people care very much about the community hospitals they work with on a day-to-day basis. And our customers know they can count on us–whether it’s making sure we meet our commitment to them or helping them work-through an issue or a challenge. In fact, one customer recently said to me that he would not make any technology-related decisions without first checking with Healthland. That’s a high compliment and one that makes me very proud of our people,” Burgess added.
Given the unique needs and challenges that exist for small community and rural hospitals, Healthland stays focused on the standards, architecture and certification requirements that are emerging from the Bush Administration’s mandate to develop an industry and federal government-wide strategy for widespread adoption of health information technology. “As we move towards a goal of portable health records, it is essential that IT solutions providers stay up-to-date on evolving industry standards. Our solutions are CCHIT-certified and we follow guidelines from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology so that we can tackle the complex EMR and Data Interchange requirements for our hospital partners,” Burgess explained.
To ensure that Healthland remains both culturally and strategically aligned with its community hospital partners’ direction and issues, Healthland recently created a new, executive level position–Vice President of Customer Experience–to ensure just that. The position will be entirely focused on the customer, making sure that Healthland continually provides value in important and emerging areas. Building on Healthland’s heritage of customer service and satisfaction, this new position will ensure that the customer’s experience with Healthland is positive throughout the continuum of care including sales, implementation, ongoing service and collaboration on future customer needs. According to Franks, “this position is an essential component in our strategy to transform community healthcare into a state-of-the-art model for the future. To achieve this with our hospital partners, we must work in lock-step with them and provide a seamless and positive experience.”
About Healthland
Founded in 1980 as Dairyland Healthcare Solutions, Healthland is America’s largest provider of IT solutions to the small community and critical access hospital market. Committed exclusively to this market, Healthland solutions enable these hospitals to deliver a high level of patient care and achieve operational efficiencies. A three-time “Best in KLAS” award winner in the Community Hospital Information Systems category, Healthland partners with community hospitals to help them improve efficiency, enhance profitability and ensure patient safety by providing solutions to manage, integrate and access key financial, clinical and patient information. The company employs 275 people, many of whom live in the small towns where their community hospital partners operate. Healthland maintains business hubs in Glenwood and Minneapolis, MN, Louisville, KY and Waco, TX. To learn more, visit: http://www.healthland.com.
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