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Misys rockets on US Net deal
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May 20, 1999: 11:52 a.m. ET
U.K. computer provider targets U.S. market for Web health care service
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Shares in British computer services firm Misys rocketed Thursday after it announced a deal with Healtheon to provide Internet services to the U.S. health care industry.
Misys aims to earn transaction fees from bringing doctors, patients, insurers and drug firms together through a medical version of Yahoo!
Shares in the company, which has drifted in and out of the FTSE 100 over the past year, climbed 18 percent to 569 pence in London.
Misys is already the largest provider of software for electronic transactions in the health sector and is keen to leverage demand for greater cost savings from providers and insurance companies.
The company provides computer services and software to the banking, insurance and health sectors. It has expanded rapidly in the U.S. since the $923 million acquisition of Medic Computer Systems in September 1997. The Medic deal contributed two-thirds of Misys' rise in sales in 1998.
Medic will acquire an equity stake in Healtheon, although the size has not yet been disclosed.
The new service will allow medical staff to check patients' insurance coverage and will capitalize on rising patient interest in medical portals.
U.S.-based Healtheon Corp. (HLTH), which has led in the use of the Net to link health care providers and users, announced plans Thursday to merge with the medical content provider WebMD, in which CNN has a minority stake.
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