athenahealth Inc. (ATHN) revealed that it has entered a strategic partnership with non-profit organization Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) to provide technology and consulting services to primary care providers (PCPs) in underserved communities. The partnership will improve performance of medical practices while easing administrative work of PCPs with the help of cloud-based services and information technology (IT) so that they can focus on high quality services to patients.
As part of the partnership, ATHN and PCDC will conduct seminars across the U.S. to educate PCPs about their services meeting their Health IT (or HIT) needs as well as developing patient-centered models. Their services will help community health centers to gain access to leading technology services, practice transformation and certification and provide technical resources to prepare reports on quality outcomes and clinical measures.
Primary Care Development Corporation was founded in 1993 and aims to improve health outcomes, reduce health costs, and scale down disparities in the availability and quality of health care. It provides services in three ways, namely, capital investment, performance improvement, and policy and advocacy. Till date, the organization has served more than 900 organizations with more than seven million patients.
Athenahealth saw an adjusted loss of 21 cents per share in the second quarter of 2013 in sharp contrast to Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 8 cents as well as the year-ago earnings of 13 cents. Reported net loss in the quarter was $12.4 million or 34 cents per share compared with net income of $4.2 million or 12 cents.
Revenues surged 41% year over year to $146.3 million in the quarter but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $148 million. The increase was attributable to expanded clientele for the company’s offerings and benefits from Epocrates takeover.
athenahealth revised its expectations for 2013. Total revenue is expected to be in the midpoint of the earlier guidance range of $580 million to $615 million.
Currently, ATHN carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). While we remain on the sidelines for the company, other scrips that are performing well in the medical products industry include PLC Systems Inc. (PLCSF) and Alere Inc. (ALR), both with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and in the medical information systems industry such as Medidata Solutions, Inc. (MDSO) with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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