| 5/11/2012 – ATIN- Sigmund Software, one of the nation’s leading IT concerns with a specialty focus on addiction treatment centers, drug rehabs and alcohol rehabs, has been acquired in a transaction designed to pump additional capital into the Brewster, NY-based software company, positioning the company to become a major powerhouse in the red hot behavioral health EHR market. “This acquisition is our first significant investment in the behavioral healthcare technology space.” says Philip Turner, a Canadian tech entrepreneur known for his success in point-of-sale technology for quick service type retail and restaurants. Sigmund is being acquired by VSS Medical Technologies, apparently controlled by Turner. Turner will be taking over the Sigmund CEO post from Joe Santoro, who took a platform developed for internal use at his addictions and behavioral health facilities and turned it into Sigmund Software, which now has over 70 clients, mostly specialty addictions facilities. “Sigmund has a strong team with deep healthcare experience, especially in Behavioral Health, and has an impressive industry leading EMRx platform,” continued Turner.”Our plan is to continue to provide leading edge features that enable behavioral health organizations to streamline workflows, increase efficiency, lower overall costs, and stay current with changes in Healthcare Technology. I will also be looking for complimentary products that we can add to our solution set, both through internal development and through selective strategic acquisitions.” Turner’s acquisition of Sigmund is a financial synergistic acquisition designed to help Sigmund compete in the BH IT market, which has seen some large mergers and is intensely competitive with dozens of players. Clearly, as a tech investor, Turner wants to participate in a high growth market. According to Sigmund executives, Turner will be bring a range of technical proficiencies and substantial capital to Sigmund. From the client standpoint – ie: Sigmund’s BH and addictions facility clients – the VSS acquisition is THE best kind of acquisition because it makes it more certain that the platform with which they have chosen to power their facilities, Sigmund, will survive, grow and prosper. The worst kind of EHR software company merger is the kind typically effectuated by Netsmart, the largest BH software concern that has grown principally by gobbling up other BH software companies, the latest being last fall’s merger with Sequest Technologies. After such mergers, the software company makes money largely by persuading -bullying?- the acquired company’s client base to migrate to the acquiring software company’s platform, or some other migration that can turn out to be a giant headache for clients caught in such mergers. In the case of Sigmund’s acquisition, you have a tech concern, VSS, making its first foray into BH EHR and using Sigmund as the key platform for entry into the business, thus Sigmund clients will benefit from increased investment in what looks like a win win situation for them as Sigmund’s competitive position in the marketplace is vastly improved.- and zero pressure to migrate.
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