A name change and the acquisition of a Texas-based software company have officials at Dairyland Healthcare Solutions thinking big while hoping to keep their rural roots.
Officials at the 28-year-old Glenwood, Minn.-based provider of IT services to small community and critical access hospitals announced Monday morning that the company is now called Healthland. In addition, the company announced the acquisition of Advanced Professional Software, Inc. of Waco, Texas, giving the company a foothold in the South.
"Our customer bases are identical," said James Burgess, Healthland's CEO. "It's really the perfect kind of acquisition for us."
Burgess and Angie Franks, Healthland's senior vice president and marketing and sales, said the acquisition will build on Healthland's goal to provide electronic medical records and financial software services to the rural healthcare provider. The APS deal adds 140 customers to Healthland's 350-customer portfolio and reportedly makes the company the largest supplier of IT solutions to critical access and small community hospitals in the nation.
"There's an additional depth of product knowledge in the financial area," Franks pointed out.
Burgess said Healthland focuses on small community-based hospitals that don't have the resources to staff an IT department, so they rely on their vendors to install and maintain IT systems. By maintaining a small-town atmosphere in the company, he said, they appeal to their customers on a more personal level.
"The way these folks buy (their IT systems) is they ask their neighbor, 'What are you using?'" he said. "Keeping close ties to our customers is how we succeed."
Franks and Burgess said both the name change and the acquisition of APS were launched last year, and it's only coincidence that the two initiatives have come to fruition at the same time. The goal of the name change, Franks said, is to push the company to a larger stage without losing the small-town feel.
"Our people have very deep roots in the small towns of America and we are committed to these communities," she said. "We live there, we care about what happens there and we get involved in the issues that affect these communities - and that includes issues affecting their community hospitals. We wanted our name to express our commitment to helping these community hospitals provide the best healthcare to the people who live in their communities."
In a related note, the company announced a new executive-level position, vice president of customer experience.
"This position is an essential component in our strategy to transform community healthcare into a state-of-the-art model for the future," Franks said.
What unique challenges do rural healthcare providers face, as opposed to large healthcare systems? Send your comments to Managing Director Eric Wicklund at eric.wicklund@medtechpublishing.com.