Zionsville-based health care data company hc1 acquires Accumen

Zionsville-based hc1, a major player in the health care data and technology sector, has acquired Accumen, a health care laboratory consulting firm headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The acquisition of Accumen from New York City-based Arsenal Capital Partners announced this week is the latest in a series of growth moves for hc1, which bills itself as a leader in lab data analysis for health care companies.

Hc1 uses a technology platform to analyze health care data from more than 90 million people, processing more than 30 billion clinical transactions and 500 million test results per month. That data is used to gain insights into patient care, health cafe provider operations and supply chain costs.

Accumen works with more than 1,000 health care systems and 4,000 physicians to help them make strategic lab decisions. Its services include laboratory operations management, clinical transformation, patient blood management, anemia management and supply-chain management.

In an interview, hc1 co-founder and CEO Brad Bostic said one of hc1’s employees made a chocolate and peanut butter sandwich to illustrate how well the two companies go together. He said hc1 provides the software systems to give health care providers better ways to analyze laboratory data, while Accumen has the consulting expertise to get hospitals to actually use the data to its highest potential.

“Health care progress starts here with driving value from actionable lab data,” Bostic said. “Now you’ve got the capabilities both technologically plus you’ve got the actual expertise needed to deliver on this value and drive the change management that’s needed.”

Bostic, who declined to disclose the price of the acquisition, said he’s been familiar with Accumen for a long time. Both companies were founded the same year (2011) and he had considered attempting a merger earlier.

But the timing came together recently as the financing combined with what Bostic sees as an increased level of recognition for the usefulness of lab data in the health care system.

“Laboratory medicine is moving from something in the basement that is not really considered the driver of your overall strategy, to actually being promoted up to a centerpiece in the strategy, to … use that information across the continuum of care to more quickly and effectively diagnose people,” he said.

For example, Bostic said, if a patient shows up to the emergency room with ruptured kidneys, there is only so much a hospital can do. But if hospitals are using better data and alerting the patient ahead of time that they’re at risk of kidney disease, it can result in better quality of life for the patient and less money spent for the health system.

Hc1 had about 65 employees prior to the merger, Bostic said. That number doubled with the acquisition. He said no jobs were eliminated in the process.

Bostic hopes the effects of the acquisition are felt beyond just the two companies. He feels combining the technological power of hc1 with the administrative know-how of Accumen will help “power up” the whole American health system by helping organizations realize the importance of the data they collect in their laboratories every day.

“You’re spending the most and not getting the highest level of outcome measures,” Bostic said of the health care system at large. “This is a way to power up across the health care system to address both of those issues.”