On Tuesday, 250 health care industry executives, entrepreneurs and investment professionals attended “Developing Health Care Ventures: Investor and Entrepreneur Collaborations, an annual event hosted by the Nashville Health Care Council and Nashville Capital Network (NCN).
The panel featured pairings of executives and investors in high growth health care companies, who shed light on what makes successful partnerships in rapidly changing ventures. This year’s panel included Curt Thorne, former president and CEO, MedSolutions, with Walker Poole, Partner, Ridgemont Equity Partners and Bill Southwick, CEO, QualDerm, and former CEO, The Rehab Documentation Company, with Gene Fleming, chairman, QualDerm, and former executive chairman, The Rehab Documentation Company. The discussion was moderated by Nancy Everitt, president and CEO, HEOPS.
View event photos on Flickr.
Photo credit: (c) 2015, Donn Jones.
MedSolutions, a specialty benefits management company that was funded in part by Ridgemont Equity Partners, merged with CareCore National in a transaction valued at approximately $1 billion. MedSolutions provided diversified medical cost management solutions to health plans that helped reduce costs and increase quality of care. Before it was sold, MedSolutions had grown to be the sixth-largest private company in Middle Tennessee.
MedSolutions was fortunate to have a great team of investors involved. The team at Ridgemont were with us from the early days of the company. We were able to leverage their experience and network to bring together a great investor group that enjoyed significant success with MedSolutions, said Thorne.
By partnering with a solid management team led by Curt Thorne, we were able to build MedSolutions into a market leader in specialty benefits management. Today, the combination of CareCore and MedSolutions is known as eviCore and serves more than 77 million people. This transaction would have never played out if it weren’t for the perseverance of Curt and his team, said Poole.
Another featured company was The Rehab Documentation Company (ReDoc), a provider of integrated clinical electronic medical record and management solutions for the growing physical, occupational, and speech therapy markets. ReDoc was acquired in 2014 by Net Health.
When I took the helm at ReDoc, I knew I wanted to put good people around me to help lead the strategic direction of the company. The investors we brought together had significant experience in health care and building a fast moving enterprise. We were able to tap into that experience to make several important strategic decisions that lead to a great outcome for ReDoc’s investors, said Southwick.
As a board member and investor, I want to work with management teams that have a drive to figure out solutions to difficult problems. When Bill took over as CEO of ReDoc, it was a company that needed a strategic shot in the arm. Bill put together a group of smart investors with relevant experience, who helped make hard decisions for the company. Because of this, the company was able to experience significant growth for several years and ultimately a very positive exit, said Fleming.
In 2012, the Council and NCN released a comprehensive report on the local venture capital marketplace. The report found that more than $1.4 billion in venture capital funds had been invested in 215 different Nashville-based companies since 2001. Nearly $1 billion of this venture capital money was invested in health care companies.
NCN connects Nashville’s most promising entrepreneurs with industry specific investors, both to help the companies accelerate development but also increase their likelihood of success. Today’s discussion featured some excellent insights into the types of successful partnerships NCN strives to support, said Sid Chambless, executive director of NCN.
Nashville’s extensive health care industry was built on a foundation of entrepreneurism, said Hayley Hovious, president of the Council. Discussions like the one we heard today offer our members the opportunity to learn about the process of building successful health care ventures and hopefully inspire even more invention and collaboration in the future.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings served as presenting sponsor of the program with LBMC Healthcare Services and Tata Consultancy Services as supporting sponsors.
About the Nashville Health Care Council
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Nashville Health Care Council is a premier association of health care industry leaders working together to further establish Nashville’s position as the nation’s health care industry capital. Supported by nearly 300 corporate members, the Council serves as a trusted source for information on trends that influence the health care industry. The organization provides members with one-of-a-kind networking opportunities and access to Nashville’s elite health care business community.
Worldwide, Nashville’s health care industry generates more than 400,000 jobs and $70 billion in annual revenue. The industry is Nashville’s largest and fastest growing employer. For more information on the Council, please visit http://healthcarecouncil.com/.
About Nashville Capital Network
NCN is a network of 130 professional investors, most of whom have been founders and executives of Nashville’s most successful companies. NCN leverages the experience and expertise of the individuals within the group to identify, develop, and support promising high growth companies. NCN manages several investment funds including NCN Angel Fund I, NCN Angel Fund II, and Tennessee Angel Fund. For more information, visit www.nashvillecapital.com.
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Contact: Valerie Somerville
vsomerville@healthcarecouncil.com
615-743-3144