News in brief - Aug. 4, 2003

HMOs given no-confidence vote - Allscripts makes two acquisitions

HMOs given no-confidence vote

Americans rank HMOs "dead last" among 15 national institutions in terms of confidence, lower than big business and Congress, a survey by the Gallup organization reported.

Only 17% of Americans have much confidence in HMOs, while 22% said they have confidence in big business and 29% expressed confidence in Congress. Faring the best in the survey were the military, with 82%; banks, with 50%; and churches, with 50%.

Gallup said the extremely low confidence levels for HMOs are worse than confidence levels for the U.S. medical system in general, and bad sentiments about HMOs "could be dragging down Americans' confidence in the health care system as a whole." Women, who the survey said tend to be the key medical decision makers for families, have especially low confidence levels in HMOs, with just 14% expressing "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in them. The poll of 1,029 people was conducted by telephone in June.

Allscripts makes two acquisitions

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions has acquired the assets of RxCentric Inc., a New York-based provider of online detailing and marketing services, for $4.5 million in cash and assumption of liabilities.

The acquisition, which includes technology and a database of 50,000 physicians, will enable Allscripts to expand its sales reach and give it access to new customers. Allscripts, of Libertyville, Ill., has an electronic detailing unit and sells electronic prescribing systems.

Separately, Allscripts announced that it had agreed to acquire Advanced Imaging Concepts Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based seller of document imaging systems, for $18 million in cash and the assumption of a portion of outstanding stock options. The two companies have been strategic partners since 2002.