MedTech Media, the publisher of Healthcare IT News, Healthcare Finance News and a suite of related online products, will begin publishing the bimonthly magazine Government Health IT in 2011. The Maine-based media company acquired the magazine, website and e-newsletter as part of a larger transaction with the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in a deal that closed today.
"Government Health IT perfectly complements our lineup of existing healthcare titles," said Jack Beaudoin, MedTech's president. "We think readers of all three publications will benefit from our combined editorial resources, and we look forward to serving them in 2011."
Government Health IT, which reaches approximately 30,000 subscribers, was acquired by HIMSS in early 2009. The Society will continue to own and operate the annual Government Health IT Conference and Exhibition.
In addition to the magazine, MedTech is also acquiring many of the HIMSS offerings it has previously been contracted to produce, including the HIMSS Daily Insider, the HIMSS Expo Yellow Pages, the HIMSS Resource Guide and other annual conference-related publications and products.
The acquisitions are also accompanied by a change in leadership at MedTech, as company founder and chairman Neil Rouda announced his departure to staff on Thursday.
Rouda formed the company in 2003 with five employees, and oversaw much of its growth. Today MedTech has 37 employees and expects to bolster its staff by an additional 15 percent in 2011. As publisher of Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Finance News, Rouda's unwavering commitment to editorial excellence was recognized by the business-to-business publishing industry with numerous awards and honors.
Beaudoin, who co-founded the company with Rouda, remains as president. A publisher will be named in the coming weeks, he said, as part of an overall management plan for the company.
To complete the transaction, Rouda and several shareholders of the privately-held limited liability corporation are selling their interests to HIMSS, which previously held a minority stake in the company since its founding, or are redeeming their shares with MedTech itself.
"HIMSS' interest in our company reflects well on the talents and dedication of the people who work at MedTech," Rouda said. "We owe our success to our partnership with HIMSS, to the industry we cover, but most of all, to our hardworking employees."
A management team, led by Beaudoin, will continue to maintain significant ownership in the company. MedTech will remain headquartered in Maine and operate with an independent board of directors.
"Going forward, it is my expectation that the activities of HIMSS and MedTech, while continuing to be run through separate companies, will support mutual growth and our ability to drive improvement and transformation in healthcare through information technology," said H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS president/CEO.
Lieber added that HIMSS had no interest in setting editorial direction for the MedTech family of publications, noting that Healthcare IT News already has a strong "Statement of Editorial Independence" in place that maintains a wall between the publication's editors and HIMSS.
