One of the most successful and respected software companies in the history of home health care technology has a new owner. Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Lewis, Inc., once known as Lewis Computer Services, has agreed to be acquired by
HEALTHCAREfirst, the Ozark, Missouri provider of web-based systems for home care and hospice. Lewis has been privately owned and operated by Jeff Lewis since 1982.
In an interview with HCTR on Monday, Lewis and HealthcareFirst president Bobby Robertson emphasized that both companies’ products will continue to be developed and supported, both offices in Missouri and Louisiana will continue to operate and
cross-training of sales and support staffs will begin soon.
“We are thrilled over the opportunity to create the industry’s strongest and most complete solution provider,” stated HEALTHCAREfirst President and CEO Bobby Robertson in the June 7 joint news release. “Our two companies have unique offerings which, combined, will allow us to fully enable agencies of all sizes to focus on patient care instead of paperwork.”
“This is a blending of two compatible cultures,” Robertson told HCTR. “Jeff has an excellent client/server product and HealthcareFirst offers a web-based, Software as a Service (SaaS) system. Now, our approximately 1,200 customers will be able to choose which architecture is better suited to their needs. We fully intend to make the most of this opportunity. Customers of both companies will continue to receive exactly what they expect and need while seeing their solutions grow even stronger as our technology and services continue to advance.”
“We want to make it clear,” Lewis added during the HCTR interview, “that no customer will be forced to change their current software. We are one company now, with a range of products. If they are using a web-based system and would like to consider a client/server system, now they can do it without having to change vendors. If they are on our Patron or Prompt systems and want to switch to web-based, they can move to firstHOMECARE or firstHOSPICE, with our full support. If they want to stay put, they will stay put.”
Robertson also expressed his excitement about gaining access to Lewis’ popular ancillary products, Episode Master and Revenue Master. “We offer outsource coding, billing and revenue recovery services as well as software products,” he explained, “and we cannot wait to apply Jeff’s products to those services. His analysis applications are known for their ability to help agencies find unpaid claims that have lain dormant for months, even years, sometimes totaling six figures in “found” monty. We can only imagine how these products will enhance our services to our billing clients.”
Since these ancillary products are not exclusive to users of other Lewis software applications, Robertson added, his combined sales staff will be offering them to all providers, whether they are current firstHOMECARE or Patron/Prompt users or not.
“The biggest advantage of this new arrangement is how it will benefit our customers,” Lewis concluded. “Lewis customers will still have the same solutions they depend on and so will HEALTHCAREfirst‘s – but both will now have stronger products and even better support from the combined company.”
A respected visionary in the industry, Jeff Lewis frequently speaks to standing room only audiences at state and national association meetings. He founded his software company in 1982, shortly after graduating from LSU with an engineering degree. In recent years, he gradually turned over day to day operation of his company to a trusted staff so that he could devote time to the statistical analyses that have often filled these pages, offering detailed insights into the Medicare payment system that were not available elsewhere. He also conducted a popular workshop tour during the last two years, helping agency financial managers better understand their revenue flow.
Though he will not have an official title in the combined company, Lewis assured us he is not going away. In fact, after perhaps a well-deserved vacation, he promised to return with
more ways of dissecting OASIS and PPS, now that he can focus on such pet projects full time.
About HEALTHCAREfirst
One of the first home health care software vendors to offer web-based, SaaS applications, the Ozark, Missouri vendor provides technologies that support business and clinical functions to Home Health Care and Hospice agencies. To support efficiency and accuracy, the company also provides outsource coding, billing and revenue recovery services.
www.healthcarefirst.com.
About Lewis Computer Services, Inc.
Lewis Computer Services, Inc. is in its third decade providing home health care data management systems, supporting efficient workflow, improved documentation, payment, scheduling and patient care planning. Based in Baton Rouge, Lewis designs its products with the flexibility to serve organizational structures from single-office agencies to multi-tiered corporations.
www.lewis.com
