Mednax will buy radiology and telemedicine firm vRad for $500 million, the companies announced Tuesday.
The Sunrise-based medical network (NYSE: MD) expects to close the deal in the second quarter. Mednax will take on vRad’s executive team, keeping the company’s headquarters and operations center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Mednax CEO Roger Medel said the acquisition would expand the services that the network can offer to its hospital partners.
"We believe vRad is an excellent platform for growth in teleradiology and the broader telemedicine market," Medel said in a news release. "Radiology is a large, fragmented industry with total revenue of roughly $18 billion, and it is evolving rapidly to include teleradiology as an economic and clinical necessity for customers.”
Credit Suisse Securities is vRad’s financial adviser on the deal, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is its legal counsel.
Short for Virtual Radiologic, vRad allows customers to outsource radiology services and offers telemedicine. The company, which includes 350 physicians, interprets more than 5 million patient studies annually.
Mednax focuses on neonatal, anesthesia, maternal-fetal and pediatric physician subspecialty services.
The company spent $490 million on acquisitions in 2014, buying eight anesthesiology practices, three pediatrics practices, a medical billing company and a consulting firm.
Mednax is South Florida’s 17th-largest public company, according to South Florida Business Journal research. The company reported $2.44 billion in 2014 revenue, up from $2.15 billion in 2013.

Acclaris, a 600-employee Tampa company started here 14 years ago that provides software services for health care and reimbursement accounts, will be acquired for $140 million by Towers Watson, a 15,000-employee consulting and professional management company based in Arlington, Va.
"This is a strategic move for Acclaris," company CEO Dean Mason said in a letter issued Monday. "It is one we make from a position of strength, having just completed our most successful year ever. Towers Watson is an industry leader in benefits administration. Becoming part of Towers Watson opens up extensive resources and new opportunities to expand our client base," he said.
News of Monday's deal was released after the markets closed. Towers Watson, which is publicly traded, has a market value topping $9 billion — larger than any public company based in the Tampa Bay area. That size is important because it sends a signal that larger companies are recognizing up-and-coming bay area companies that are worth acquiring — a key message for the business startup community here.
"Going forward, Towers Watson and Acclaris will enable clients of any size to offer benefits in new and cost-effective ways," said Jim Foreman, managing director for Towers Watson's Exchange Solutions segment, where Acclaris will operate. He praised the Tampa firm for its operational efficiency, its flexible technology and service delivery.
Acclaris, at 1511 N West Shore Blvd., also has locations in Kansas and India. Since 2001, it has worked with a number of employers, health plans, banks and third-party administrators as the technology and services manager for their account-based benefit offerings. Acclaris, with expected 2015 revenues of $35 million, administers 1.4 million health care accounts, working with 6,000 employers, including more than 40 Fortune 500 companies.

Roche announced Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the cobas KRAS Mutation Test for diagnostic use. The real-time PCR test is designed to identify KRAS mutations in tumor samples from metastatic colorectal cancer or mCRC patients and aid clinicians in determining a therapeutic path for them.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and the third most common cancer in men and women. The cobas KRAS Mutation Test is intended to be used as an aid in the identification of mCRC patients for whom treatment with Erbitux (cetuximab) or Vectibix (panitumumab) may be effective if no KRAS mutation is present.
In a separate press release, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, said that it will present data from 10 of its approved cancer medicines and 10 investigational medicines during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from May 29 – June 2 in Chicago.
These data demonstrate the strength of Genentech's oncology pipeline, particularly in cancer immunotherapy and personalized medicine. Updated results from studies of cobimetinib in combination with Zelboraf (vemurafenib) will also be presented at ASCO.
Cobimetinib is currently under review with both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency. Data presented at ASCO for alectinib and Gazyvawill support regulatory submissions, and the Gazyva data will be highlighted as part of ASCO's official press program.
Genentech noted that it is also discussing interim data for MPDL3280A from the POPLAR study with the FDA as part of its Breakthrough Therapy Designation in lung cancer.
Preliminary data will also be presented on investigational medicine venetoclax in NHL and multiple myeloma. The FDA recently granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to venetoclax for people with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have a genetic abnormality known as 17p deletion.

Health chiefs in Abu Dhabi have developed a new quality index aimed at driving up standards in the healthcare sector in the UAE capital.
Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) will reveal details of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Quality Index at the HAAD & MEED Middle East Patient Safety & Quality Congress 2015 which opens on Monday.
"The objective is a comprehensive and transparent quality framework that will be the first in the region and will build up and improve on the latest thinking on quality internationally," said HAAD strategy director Dr Asma Al Mannaei.
"We are looking in the longer-term to make this index available for any of our partner organisations in GCC and beyond to enable benchmarking to drive continuous improvement."
Al Mannaei said the new index will initially focus on hospitals, but clinics and other healthcare facilities will be added later.
"The framework will define a uniform set of globally-informed standards that will be used to evaluate providers in all aspects of their quality performance," said Al Mannaei. "The final framework will specify quality standards and performance targets to ensure consistent application by regulators and providers alike and guide quality improvement efforts in the future."
Dr Omar Najim, senior advisor at HAAD, added: "Abu Dhabi is focusing on improving the whole healthcare system to deliver the highest quality that is both accessible to its population and sustainable for the future.
"The HAAD vision is a healthier Abu Dhabi. To achieve that, the authority has developed a healthcare sector strategy and a key component of this strategy is ensuring a high quality of care for all. Quality of care is a core component of providing healthcare in general."
Benchmarks for measuring quality include the standardised mortality rate, timeliness of care, patient satisfaction and measures of processes.

Neusoft Medical Systems Co., Ltd. officially launched the NeuViz 128 CT for the global markets, and the new products are being exported to South Asia, North Africa and other international markets. Neusoft Medical Systems' CE certified NeuViz 128 CT combines the leading-edge technologies and innovations to create super-fine and low dose images, which can provide more accurate diagnostic information. The NeuViz 128 CT has become China's first 128-slice CT being exported to the international markets with independent intellectual property rights, and its launch demonstrates the company's determination to explore the global high-end CT markets.
Neusoft Medical Systems successfully developed China's first CT prototype in 1994, and made it industrialized in 1998, which made China the world's 5th largest CT machine manufacturer and exporter, following the United States, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. Now, Neusoft Medical Systems' wide range of products have been sold to more than 100 countries and regions, serving over 9,000 healthcare institutions worldwide.
Mr. Jiang Genmiao, Vice President of Neusoft Corporation and President of Neusoft Medical Systems said at the launch ceremony, "As a medical equipment provider, Neusoft Medical Systems set software technology as our core. We have been committed to software and product engineering innovation, and continuously contributing to China's CT industry in the past years. Looking forward, we will make great efforts in innovation and operational excellence, and offer high-quality medical products and services to more people in the world."

ProHealth Care will contract with UW Health to oversee the medical care at its new cancer center scheduled to open this year in Pewaukee.
The agreement announced Thursday could lead to more services being available in Waukesha County.
It also will enable ProHealth to draw on the expertise of the doctors at the Carbone Cancer Center in Madison and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
"From our perspective, our goal and vision has been to remain an independent organization," said Susan Edwards, chief executive officer of ProHealth. "That being said, any time we can do things to strengthen what we bring to this community, we certainly will look to partners."
The agreement could make it easier for some cancer patients to get care in the Waukesha area. For example, UW doctors in Madison who specialize in specific types of cancers could see patients one day a week or so in Pewaukee.
Another potential benefit is better coordination when a patient is referred to UW Health in Madison.
"It really is trying to provide better, more streamlined care for patients," Edwards said.
The Carbone Cancer Center is one of 41 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute.
ProHealth's new cancer center, projected to cost $70 million when announced, is scheduled to open in August. The center is on a 14-acre site along Pewaukee Road, just north of I-94.
Affiliating with an academic medical center could help ProHealth compete with Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Froedtert Hospital, the academic medical center of the Medical College, has the largest market share in cancer care in the Milwaukee area.
ProHealth also has contracted with Indiana University to oversee its cardiothoracic surgery program.
The administrative director and the medical director of the cancer program will be UW Health employees. The eight oncologists employed by ProHealth will work under the umbrella of the UW Health program.
"Our physicians have been very receptive to this relationship that we've created with UW," Edwards said.
UW Health also has partnerships with Beloit Health System; with FHN, a health care system based in Freeport, Ill.; and with the former Riverview Hospital Association, now part of Aspirus in Wausau.
In addition, the UW Cancer Center Johnson Creek is a partnership of Fort HealthCare in Fort Hays, UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center and UW Health.
Several cancer specialists who work in Waukesha and are employed by Aurora Health Care also will practice at ProHealth's new cancer center and work under UW Health.
ProHealth, Aurora and UW Health are members of abouthealth, a statewide network of health systems that plan to work together to improve quality and lower costs as well as contract with health insurers.
"It's a collaboration that we feel is in the best interests of the community and the patients we collectively serve," Edwards said.

DeAngelis Diamond Healthcare Group has been awarded the $15.8 million contract for the new Cobalt Rehabilitation Hospital in New Orleans.
The Birmingham office will oversee the 65,000-square-foot rehab hospital construction that will begin this month and is scheduled to be complete in 11 months.
Located in the Mid-City district in New Orleans, the facility will include a Traumatic Brain Injury Unit, a center of excellence for concussion and Parkinson's disease and an inpatient and outpatient program.
The overall scope of the project will be two-stories, with 60 beds.
Ascension Group Architects is the architect of record, and Cobalt Medical Development is the developer of the project.

Sixteen hospitals will pay $15.69 million to resolve allegations they were reimbursed from Medicare for services that were unnecessary, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.
As part of the settlement, Health Management Associates Inc and 14 of its formerly associated hospitals will pay $15 million, Community Health Systems and its subsidiary Wesley Medical Center in Mississippi will pay $210,000, and North Texas Medical Center will pay $480,000, the Justice Department said.
Tennessee-based Community Health Systems bought smaller rival Health Management Associates Inc for $3.9 billion in 2014.
Through its affiliates, it owns, operates or leases 199 hospitals in 29 states.
The companies, which did not admit liability under the terms of the agreement, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
They are alleged between 2005 and 2013 to have billed for mental health treatments that they knew did not meet the standard for Medicare reimbursement, including providing substandard therapy, the department said.
"Hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must ensure that the services they provide and bill for are based on the medical needs of patients rather than the desire to maximize profits," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department's civil division.

Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been a beacon of hope and healing in the heart of South Texas for more than 60 years. Courtesy of an $80 million construction project, that beacon is only going to grow brighter and stronger in the future.
The Robert Driscoll and Julia Driscoll and Robert Driscoll, Jr. Foundation Board of Trustees and the Driscoll Children’s Hospital Governing Board of Directors approved an exciting venture that will add a 70,000 square foot building to the front of the hospital and ensure Driscoll’s spot as the premier location for the care and well-being of South Texas infants and children.
“There’s no doubt that Driscoll Children’s Hospital is the top source of medical care for the children in South Texas, and this massive project ensures it will be that way well into the future,” said Sam L. Susser, Chairman of the Robert Driscoll and Julia Driscoll and Robert Driscoll, Jr. Foundation Board of Trustees. “It’s exciting that our boards enthusiastically approved this multi-phased project. It’s an honor and a privilege to have such whole-hearted support.”
“One of our constant goals is to make sure Driscoll is family-centered and the ideal place for providing the best possible care for infants, children and their families,” Loyd Neal, Chairman of the Driscoll Children’s Hospital Governing Board of Directors said. “These additions are all being made with those thoughts firmly in mind, and they ensure we keep the hospital pointed in that direction.”
The monumental project, which will break ground in 2016, will add a two-story, 70,000 square foot building to the front side of the hospital and will house a new Outpatient Surgery center and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
The first floor of the new building will be home to a new Outpatient Surgery center and new Outpatient Lab. The new PICU will feature 16 patient-centered private rooms, accommodating more privacy and an even higher level of technology. It all will be connected to the hospital’s main lobby by a concourse.
The new building will be adjacent to an expanded and renovated Operating Room (OR). The renovation will provide two additional OR suites and give the hospital a self-contained OR with supply and equipment areas and sterile processing center all centrally located.
“This project will give the entire hospital an even better flow for our patients and their families,” Driscoll Children’s Hospital President and CEO Steve Woerner said. “Adding a new Outpatient Surgery center and PICU that is all adjacent to an expanded OR enhances the delivery of care we can provide for our patients and better meets the needs of our physicians.”
Any visit to a hospital can be a stressful time for children and their families. The PICU’s private rooms will help to make the experience as pleasant as possible for everyone involved.
“Being able to have private rooms for our patients and families is beneficial for their emotional well-being when children need intensive critical care,” Woerner said. “Having your own private room allows the families to relax a little bit more and focus on healing.”
In additional phases of the vast construction project, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Radiology waiting areas will be upgraded to make those spaces more child-friendly and family-oriented. The project also will include enhancements throughout the hospital, including a relocation of the hospital’s helipad and an expansion of the parking garage.
The prodigious construction project also gives Driscoll flexibility for additions in the future. The new building will be a two-story structure with the capability of expanding to five floors during the second phase of construction. This will enable Driscoll to offer even more services for infants, children, women and their families.
“This is all part of our continued growth,” Woerner said. “We’re looking to the future and making sure we provide the highest level of care for the children and families of South Texas. This project is part of the ongoing modernization of the hospital and will continue to make Driscoll Children’s Hospital a place for hope and healing.”
The generosity of South Texans has ensured that Driscoll has been the area’s leader in children’s medical care since 1953.
“We are blessed with the support of the community,” Woerner said. “South Texas has embraced Driscoll Children’s Hospital for more than 60 years. It’s humbling to see the impact this community has allowed us to have in the lives of the children we serve, and projects like this allow us to continue to grow and be a part of the incredibly strong fabric of South Texas.”

Evolent Health, a provider of software solutions for health care providers, on Monday filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said it was seeking to raise $100 million, but that is likely a placeholder for its initial S-1 filing and plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol EVH.
In 2013, Evolent Health raised $100 million in a capital raising initiative to bring its capital base to $124 million. It was the second round of funding, for the company, according to Venture Beat. TPG Growth participated in that fundraising round, as well as stakeholders UPMC Health Plans, the health care provider associated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Advisory Board (ABCO), a Washington-based provider of management and consulting services that focuses on health care. Evolent CEO Frank Williams serves as co-chair of Advisory Board, in addition to his leadership of Evolent.
Evolent partners with leading health systems to drive value-based care transformation, according to TPG Growth's description of its portfolio company. It operates on what is called a "value-based care model" by the healthcare sector that focuses on the value of care being provided over the volume.
"In an environment of rising costs and wide variations in care quality, creating clinical value is challenging but critically important — and readily achievable with the right partner," Williams said in a 2013 statement announcing the recapitalization. "With our physician and provider partners, Evolent is able to fully align with the clinical and financial imperatives of the health care system. With this investment, we can extend our reach to serve even more systems in more markets."