HealthStream, Inc. has acquired Chicago-based Morrisey Associates, a provider of physician credentialing and privileging for approximately $48.0 million in cash. For HealthStream, the acquisition provides a robust set of credentialing and privileging solutions for healthcare professionals for its Provider Solutions segment. Morrisey Associates reported $12.8 million in revenues in 2015.
As part of the acquisition, president of HealthStream’s provider solutions business, Michael Sousa will assume executive leadership of Morrisey Associates, a HealthStream Company.
Morrisey Associates’ Web-based provider credentialing software, streamlines the entire credentialing process, from onboarding through reappointment, by eliminating paper-based, manual administrative tasks. It automates online applications, primary source verifications, contract and network management, credentialing packet reviews, and peer reviews.
Understanding the Importance of Credentialing
Hospitals are responsible for ensuring the highest quality of care possible for patients and, therefore, credentialing is mandatory. Credentialing is the process by which hospitals evaluate and verify the qualifications of their healthcare providers to ensure that each practitioner possesses the necessary qualifications to provide medical services to patients. Once a practitioner is credentialed, the hospital will assess his/her competencies in a specific area of patient care through a process known as privileging. The Joint Commission requires ongoing, periodic assessments of practitioners’ competencies and performance for maintaining accreditation. The acquisition of Morrisey Associates adds to our HealthStream existing products that support every step in these processes.
Additonally, Morrisey Associates’ Privilege Content and Criteria Builder™ (PCCB) helps healthcare organizations verify that clinical practitioners are qualified to perform specific procedures using a robust criteria-based system. Morrisey Associates offers a comprehensive, vetted library of delineated privileges for more than 100 adult and pediatric specialties, encompassing physicians, advanced practice allied health professionals, and non-physician specialties. Hospitals also receive a list of stand-alone privileges and procedures that may be available for one or more specialties.
“Ensuring that you have qualified healthcare providers is the first step for all healthcare organizations in delivering quality care to patients—and that’s why we are committed to offering the best provider solutions in the healthcare industry,” said Robert A. Frist, Jr., chief executive officer, HealthStream. “With the acquisition of Morrisey Associates, HealthStream gains an expanded source of market leading credentialing and privileging solutions, delivering important synergies for innovation in this key area of healthcare organizations’ workforce requirements.”
As president of HealthStream’s provider solutions business, Michael Sousa will assume executive leadership of Morrisey Associates, a HealthStream Company. “I look forward to welcoming Morrisey Associates’ customers and employees to HealthStream,” said Michael Sousa. “We are excited that our portfolio of provider solutions now includes MSOW, PCCB, and the experienced consulting team from Morrisey Associates. We believe that the expertise, resources, and capabilities of HealthStream, Echo, and now Morrisey Associates will combine to deliver innovation that yields the most advanced platform, proprietary content, and validated data to accelerate and optimize medical staff credentialing and privileging for hospitals.”
