Health IT VC Funding Could Soar to $1B in 2012

from Diana Manos, Sr. Editor for Healthcare IT News

 

AUSTIN, TX – Third quarter results of a venture capital (VC) study conducted by Mercom Capital Group showed healthcare IT remaining strong for the fifth quarter in a row, and the outcome of the presidential election is not expected to change that, according to Raj Prabhu, managing partner of Mercom.

“This is private funding going into private companies, and there continues to be a strong interest and demand in the [health IT] sector with a consumer angle as health apps and social health networks are becoming popular and more mainstream,” he told Healthcare IT News following Mercom’s Monday release of the report.

Fifty-eight different investors participated in the third quarter funding rounds with First Round Capital, Great Point Partners and West Health Investment Fund participating in multiple deals, the report found.

[Related: Calling all entrepreneurs: HIT takes an ecosystem]

Health information management companies received the most funding as a technology group with $101 million in 20 deals, followed by mobile health companies with $39 million in seven deals, and social health network companies with $26 million in four deals, according to Mercom.

The report showed “a healthy number” of early-stage deals. “2012 has the potential to be a billion dollar VC funding year for the sector,” Prabhu said.

Prabhu attributed the HITECH Act of 2009; Affordable Care Act and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Data Initiative for “getting the ball rolling” on the upward trend.

“HHS started making greater amounts of usable health data available,” he said. “This has made a whole slew of applications possible, opening up possibilities for companies, consumers and communities to come up with new solutions leading the way to mobile apps, social health networks and other products.”

“Health IT touches everybody, creating a large market that has peaked the interest of investors and is likely to continue to grow,” Prabhu said.

The report showed there was continued strength in M&A activity in the sector, as well, providing investors and companies with plenty of viable exit strategies. There were 37 M&A transactions in Q3 2012, amounting to $3.2 billion, of which only ten transactions disclosed details.

According to Prabhu, the 37 M&A deals in one quarter is a strong indicator of growth in the industry. “That total has been surpassed only twice since 2010,” he said.

The top funding deal this quarter was the $25.5 million raised by Telcare, a mobile health company that uses cellular machine-to-machine technology for diabetes and other chronic illnesses, according to the report.

[Related: CDC girding to open its cloud to public health departments]

Other top deals included $20 million raised by Connecture, an online health insurance process automation company focused on health insurance exchanges, followed by $17 million raised by Doximity, a professional social network for physicians. Clinipace, an eClinical technology provider of real-time access to the healthcare information raised $13 million, and finally both Streamline Health Solutions, a provider of enterprise content management and business analytics solutions for healthcare organizations and SoloHealth, a healthcare technology and data analytics company, raised $12 million each, the report showed.

Among the top M&A transactions, Roper Industries acquired Sunquest Information Systems, a provider of diagnostic and laboratory software solutions to healthcare providers, for $1.4 billion. One Equity Partners acquired M*Modal, a provider of clinical documentation services and speech understanding solutions, for $1.1 billion. Science Applications International Corporation acquired maxIT Healthcare, a healthcare IT consulting firm, for $473 million. Thomas Bravo acquired Mediware Information Systems, a provider of clinical software solutions, for $195 million.

9 Steps to Ignite [Job] Motivation

by Shala Marks for recruiter.com

Let’s be honest: Sometimes work can be redundant. Even those areas you’re passionate about can become menial and dull if you do them for eight hours a day, five days a week and 52 weeks per year (give or take a few holidays and vacations).

The same task can quickly become boring and leave you feeling uninterested and unmotivated. According to Towers Watson’s 2012 Global Workforce study, only 35 percent of the 32,000 full-time workers polled were highly engaged. Lack of engagement, loss of interest and motivation are key reasons people decide to leave a company, change career paths or even start their own businesses. We need to be excited and inspired with the jobs and/or careers we pursue. Once that spark is gone, sometimes it’s difficult to relight it before simply deciding to jump ship.

Below are nine tips for increasing motivation. Whether it’s your office position, novel you began writing, going to (or back to) school to receive further education, or that idea for a start-up you concocted, using these suggestions can help you strengthen the necessary motivation for the boring and routine moments along your path.

Challenge yourself

Often times we lose interest in our work or tasks because we’ve mastered them. There’s no fun if there’s no challenge. Find ways to challenge yourself with the work you need to do. Try putting a new, creative spin on something. Ask for more assignments or for projects you aren’t used to handling. Step outside of your element and comfort zone to try a new concept, a new approach or a new method. Challenges are helpful because they not only increase your motivation and build interest, but they stretch your potential.

Set small daily and weekly goals

We have a goal: write a book, start a business, implement a new program. But many people desire to quickly reach the end without fully accepting the process that comes in between start and finish. Every process takes time, so to not lose focus during this time, set small goals for yourself. Set a few daily goals and only focus on them. Then work your way up to weekly goals. By breaking down your workload into smaller tasks you will 1) stay productive and 2) maintain your interest because you know each goal is bringing you steps closer to the end.

Use past work success for future motivation

If you find yourself bored on the job now, think back to a time (or times) when you were successful. Think about what you did, how it made you feel and how it affected where you are today. No one wants to just have accomplishments from years and years ago; people are always looking to see what an individual has achieved recently. Remembering past successes can help motivate you to continue working hard so you can have future success as well.

Think about the bigger picture

Although the task at hand may seem redundant and trivial now, it is a part of something larger. Focus on your role and the part you play in helping ensure the bigger picture comes together. What you’re doing in necessary and realizing this will help build back that desire to complete your tasks.

Remind yourself of your reasoning

Sometimes we lost our motivation because we don’t think about it (or them). Take out some time to remind yourself of why you decided to do this in the first place. Why did you apply for this job and who was depending on you to get it? Why did you want to work for this company? Why did you set that goal? Why do you have this desire? Remembering our whys will put things back into proper perspective.

Find what inspires you

Perhaps you just need a small fire lit beneath you to get you going. What inspires you? What makes you think, laugh or smile? What gets your blood pumping and your heart racing? I enjoy reading quotes whenever I need a boast of inspiration, especially encouraging quotes pertaining to your situation. Seek out that which inspires you.

Make goals visible

Similar to not thinking about what motivated us in the first place, many times we become bored because we lack visuals. Write out your goals (you can even add a photo) and hang it on your desk, in your office or any place you will see it each day. Look at your goals every day and read them to remind yourself of what you’re working toward.

Choose positivity

It’s easy to become negative, disgruntled and disengaged. Choose to remain positive in all situations. If you’re getting bored or are becoming restless with a task, combat negative thoughts with positive ones.

I am so tired of doing this over and over and over again but repetition is good for increasing my skills in this area.

What I am doing is so boring, but I know it is a necessary step to reaching my goals and it will not always be like this.

I just don’t feel like doing this work, but I know no one is going to hand me success. If I want it I have to work for it.

Be grateful

You have a job and millions of others don’t. You’re getting paid to complete a task. Millions of people are homeless. You have the opportunity to follow your dreams and the resources to do so (college education, money, time), while others are not as fortunate. If we step back and take a good look at where we are and where could be we should be grateful for the work we must do. Being appreciative reminds us that we could be in worse situations and motivates us to not only maintain our current positions, but work to improve them.