Tag - Mdas

Developers Diversified Realty REIT (Nasdaq:DDR), Union Drilling Inc. (Nasdaq:UDRL) and TF Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:THRD) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: InterOil Corp. (Nasdaq:IOC), BigBand Networks Inc. (Nasdaq:BBND), MedAssets Inc. (Nasdaq:MDAS), Force Protection Inc (Nasdaq:FRPT), Och Ziff Capital Management Group (Nasdaq:OZM) and Macquarie Infrastructure Co. LLC (Nasdaq:MIC).

Any insured individual who has ever been in the hospital has had the pleasure of plowing through stacks of what the insurance industry calls EOBs, or “explanations of benefits.”  Any sane person quickly concludes there can be no explanation for the torturous jumble of dates, codes, charges, exclusions and reimbursements that confronts him. 

Health care is complicated, and the doctors, hospitals and clinics providing the services don’t have it much easier. They face perpetual disruption in revenue streams from denied claims, partial reimbursements, changes in Medicare, and, inevitably, patients who can’t figure out how much they owe. On the other side of the profit equation, they face constant pressure from rapidly escalating supply costs. That’s where MedAssets (Nasdaq:MDAS) comes in. 

Atlanta-based MedAssets offers products and services to health-care providers that are designed to un-complicate processes that have become so complex, even Hillary Clinton couldn’t figure them out. Its offerings fall into three main categories:  revenue cycle management, spend management and business analytics. 

Revenue cycle management tools focus on capturing revenue that is currently lost when porous and, in many cases, outdated collection systems are overtaxed with denied claims, confused patients, or any dealings with the government. MedAsset’s spend-management solutions do one of the most difficult things in business: make sure the customer gets the supplies it ordered at the price it agreed to pay. This is of particular value to hospitals and clinics that purchase masses of high-priced supplies from a boatload of different vendors. According to the company, 25% to 35% of invoices and purchase orders . . .

Caps on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement are requiring health-care providers to manage costs more effectively, spurring demand for software systems marketed by MedAssets (Nasdaq:MDAS) and Quality Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:QSII).

Demand for cost-management software is increasing due to steadily rising health-care costs. Health-care spending is forecast to grow nearly 7% annually and reach $4.1 trillion by 2016. Spending for hospital care exceeded $650 billion last year. Government agencies and insurance groups seek to control their expenses by limiting medical reimbursement rates through fixed fee plans. Many hospitals are struggling. For example, community hospitals had a Medicaid/Medicare shortfall of nearly $30 billion in 2006. To survive, hospitals are embracing IT solutions as a means for improving efficiencies and reducing costs. MedAssets estimates the addressable market for its software exceeds $6.5 billion.

MedAssets provides software and related services that help hospitals boost operating margins and cash flow. By using MedAssets’ tools, some hospitals have been able to increase operating margins by as much as 500 basis points through increased revenue capture and reduced supply costs. The company’s customers include more than 125 health systems, 3,300 hospitals and 30,000 non-acute care health-care providers.

MedAssets’ revenues have grown nearly 36% annually over the past five years. The company operates through two segments: the revenue cycle management segment has over 1,000 hospital customers and is a leading industry provider of revenue management software. MedAssets’ spend management segment manages $15 billion in health-care supply spending and has the country’s third-largest group purchasing organization (GPO) as its customer.

Revenue cycle management tools help hospitals bolster cash collections, reduce accounts receivable and increase regulatory compliance by managing the revenue cycle all the way from patient admission through claims processing and accounts receivable. A typical customer realizes 1% to 3% revenue improvement . . .

Shares of MedAssets Inc. (Nasdaq:MDAS) are falling on news before the start of trading that the provider of proprietary technology that allows hospitals to assess profitability widened its fourth-quarter loss. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company reported that its loss for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007, was $3.8 million, or $0.20 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.7 million, or $0.16 per share, a year earlier.

At 3:45 p.m. ET, the shares had declined $0.09, or 1%, to $15.62.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have edged down and the small-cap index will most likely open with a small decline.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department announced this morning that jobless claims for the week ended March 15 increased 22,000 to 378,000.

The Russell 2000 stumbled late Wednesday, finishing down 17.81, or 2.61%, at 664.13, unable to sustain the updraft off Tuesday’s largest one-day gain of the year. In today’s action, support is at 660, then at 654, and critical support is at 650. With the U.S. markets closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday, a weekly close above 650 will be critical for the chart structure, and to keep investors uplifted by the recovery off the lows.

The market could see mild volatility into the opening Thursday. The bigger volatility risk comes at 10:00 a.m. ET with the release of Leading Indicators and the Philly Fed Survey.