[November 06, 2012]

McKesson Announces Intent to Acquire Emendo Ltd., a Leader in Patient Demand Forecasting Tools

Today McKesson announced it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Emendo Ltd., whose CapPlan Predictive Capacity Planning solution equips healthcare providers to optimize operational performance by intelligently forecasting patient demand. CapPlan also supports clinicians in their delivery of quality patient care by using a patient-centered, enterprise-wide view of activity to make real-time adjustments for patient flow and staffed capacity allocations.

A natural extension of the McKesson Enterprise Intelligence™ and Workforce Management Solutions suites, CapPlan enables providers to direct and manage capacity from the emergency department to admission to discharge. Combined, these solutions allow organizations to proactively manage capacity across care settings and take steps to significantly reduce costs and improve patient experience, key goals of McKesson Technology Solutions' Better Health 2020™ healthcare IT strategy.

"It's estimated that there is more than $700 billion in waste across the U.S. healthcare system," said Chris Bauleke, president of Health Systems Performance Management, McKesson Provider Technologies. "Much of that waste results from inefficiencies hat can be reduced with greater visibility to patient flow and the use of capacity management solutions. In turn, organizations can achieve better business results and also deliver higher-quality care that's more patient-centered."

Bauleke noted that health systems can use capacity management solutions to fine-tune staffing requirements, procedure scheduling and resource utilization. "The potential savings and increased revenues from improved management of staff and other key assets are especially attractive as pressure mounts to reduce costs," he said.

Unique in its ability to forecast future patient activity, CapPlan enables health systems to allocate resources efficiently while identifying unnecessary costs. By proactively managing clinician schedules and workloads, patient flow, length of stay and discharges, providers can achieve measurable results. For example, using CapPlan, a 400-bed hospital realized $895,000 savings for inpatient areas and a 450-bed facility identified potential efficiency savings exceeding $1 million in the first year of use.

"Our team has focused on the intricacies of the healthcare setting and how to manage for sustained operational effectiveness," explains Dave Tinkler, Emendo chief executive officer. "We provide actionable intelligence that hospitals and health systems use to manage their business operations on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis - no matter what comes at them."

Healthcare providers continue to adapt to demands of reform by focusing on care quality and cost. Drawing on solutions and expertise across various segments of healthcare, McKesson is well-positioned to help providers address these challenges. "Our goal with Better Health 2020 is to equip providers for success as they work to reduce costs, coordinate care across the ecosystem and assume financial risk for patient populations," noted Bauleke.

To deliver healthcare in 2020 and beyond, organizations will need to optimize clinical, financial and operational performance. They must also coordinate care across settings and stakeholders, navigate new payment models, and manage technology assets to provide a solid foundation for growth beyond the four walls of the health system. These critical success factors are the tenets of Better Health 2020, which supports the use of information technology for better business, better care and better connectivity.

About McKesson Corporation

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 14th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com.

About Emendo

Emendo's CapPlan solution enables over 40 hospitals throughout New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK to forecast patient demand and plan resourcing. Emendo's customers report operational efficiencies as well as significant savings ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year. In 2009, the CapPlan implementation at Bedford NHS Trust in the United Kingdom was named winner of the "Adopt, Adapt and Improve" category of the national Health and Social Care Awards. Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, Emendo was founded in 2002 by Nick Burns and Bart Visscher. For more information, visit http://www.emendo.co.nz.

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