Providence St. Joseph Health, a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system, announced today that it will acquire Bluetree, an Epic consulting and strategy company that helps health care providers maximize their use of technology. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, and with offices in Denver and New York, Bluetree’s integrated team approach helps health care providers realize higher returns from their Epic EHR platform investment.
Acquisition Benefits for Providence St. Joseph
By acquiring Bluetree, Providence St. Joseph Health will expand its current offerings to increase the value it delivers to other health systems across the country. The acquisition is part of a strategy to diversify revenue to support patient care and the mission of Providence St. Joseph Health. With the addition of Bluetree, Providence St. Joseph Health now has two of the top EHR solutions companies in the country. It also owns Engage, which has grown to become one of the largest MEDITECH solution companies in the United States.
Mike Butler, President of Strategy and Operations for PSJH said, “Many health systems have invested heavily in EPIC as the backbone to provide seamless patient care. The value-add of EMR consulting is modernizing talent management, revenue cycle, and operations, so providers can focus on their core strengths of delivery care instead of pouring resources into technology investments. As one of EPIC’s largest customers already, Bluetree will enable us to build new revenue streams by expanding these services to other health systems.”
Bluetree’s End-to-End Epic Solutions
Founded in 2012 by former Epic leaders, has a client base of more than 140 health systems nationwide, including eight of the 10 organizations listed in the 2018-19 US News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll rankings. In joining Providence St. Joseph Health, Bluetree will extend its customer reach and pursue additional growth and innovation opportunities.
“By joining Providence St. Joseph Health, Bluetree will be able to help even more health care organizations maximize the power of technology,” said Jeremy Schwach, CEO of Bluetree. “Bluetree has always focused on helping health care organizations better care for their patients. By tapping into the Providence St. Joseph Health platform and their thousands of dedicated and talented providers, we will be able to increase the speed by which we bring new innovations to our clients.”
Post-Acquisition Plans for Bluetree
Once the acquisition is closed, Bluetree will operate as a separate subsidiary of Providence St. Joseph Health. Providence St. Joseph Health will continue to provide existing Epic implementation and management services to its family of organizations and Community Connect partners as it does today. Financial terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
Recent Providence St. Joseph Health Diversification Efforts
Providence St. Joseph Health’s announcement comes on the heels of other innovative ventures designed to diversify revenue to support its mission. In February 2019, Providence St. Joseph Health launched Ayin Health Solutions, a population health management company. Additionally, the health system acquired Lumedic, a next-generation revenue cycle management platform based on blockchain technology.
