Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) decided to raise up to $27.3 million in gross proceeds, before placement agency fees and other expenses, by offering 9,084,032 shares of the company’s common stock at a purchase price of $3.00 per share. The offer is only for select institutional investors and is expected to close on Nov. 18, 2009. Merge will use the proceeds primarily to prepay in full its senior secured notes held by Merrick RIS, L.L.C. due June 2010. The remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes like the working capital financing. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is the lead placement agent for the fund raising offer. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated are the co-placement agents for the offering. Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care ...

Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. (MDRX) recently benefited from the $1 million federal grant secured by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Vermont Information Technology Leaders Inc. that will provide incentives to physicians and independent pharmacies of Vermont to adopt health information technology. Allscripts benefited from this move as it has recently entered into a strategic alliance with Vermont Information Technology Leaders Inc.  Vermont Information Technology is a non-profit organization facilitating the expanded use of health care IT in Vermont. Vermont is the most improved state in the U.S. for electronic prescribing and Allscripts has a strong presence there. Per the recently entered agreement with Allscripts, the health care providers of Vermont will use Allscripts products and services through Vermont Information Technology Leaders at preferred pricing.  Allscripts offers physicians three different electronic health record (EHR) systems, all of which have a world-class functionality. It has been seen that ...

...and a Rejoinder to Posner.

The CEA Analysis of ARRA's Impact

Yesterday, the Council of Economic Advisers released the first of its mandated reports on the impact of the ARRA on economic activity. Based upon a variety of approaches (VAR, multiplier based), it concludes:

"...our multiplier analysis and estimates from a wide range of private and public sector forecasters confirm the estimates from the statistical projection analysis. There is broad agreement that the ARRA has added between 2 and 3 percentage points to baseline real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2009 and around 3 percentage points in the third quarter.

There is also broad agreement that it has likely added between 600,000 and 1.1 million to employment (again, relative to what would have happened without stimulus) as of the third quarter."

The CEA actually conducted a series of analyses. The first is an informal approach, examining the contributions of components of GDP

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Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) has expanded its agreement with Rosslyn Medical, a large medical imaging solution provider serving the Russian market. The agreement calls for expanding the portfolio of Merge OEM products available to Rosslyn. The new agreement widens Merge’s Russian footprint and increases its international revenues. The Russian market presents a tremendous opportunity having been valued at $2 billion in 2007 (Source: Frost and Sullivan estimates). The country has few national initiatives such as the ‘National Health Program’ and project ‘Health’ that empower hospitals, specialized health centers and clinics with advanced medical technology. Merge’s products meet the strong quality standards and support these initiatives. Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care by fusing business and clinical workflow, and intelligently managing and distributing diagnostic images and information throughout the healthcare enterprise. Merge was ...

Merge Healthcare Inc. (MRGE) recently agreed to acquire Confirma in an all-stock transaction. The transaction is valued at $22 million taking into account roughly 5.6 million shares of Merge’s common stock based on a ten-day volume weighted average price method. Post-acquisition, Confirma investors will own roughly 8.5% stake in Merge. Merge expects to close the transaction next month.

The acquisition gives Merge an access to Confirma’s patented and proven computer assisted detection (CAD) technology. CAD is a medical-imaging software that assists doctors in interpreting medical images. In early stages of implementation, the new technology significantly reduces healthcare costs while enhancing patient care.

Merge, a healthcare software and services company, was paralyzed by several issues in the past like dwindling cash balance, management turnover, accounting miscues and litigations. The real turnaround started from the second quarter of 2008 when the company received a much needed cash infusion of $20

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 7, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Salesforce.com (CRM), Wal-Mart (WMT), Dell Inc. (DELL), Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

CRM Focuses on Healthcare

Healthcare provides a good business opportunity to information technology companies, a fact reinforced by Salesforce.com (CRM). The company is investing in Practice Fusion, which is involved in the business of electronic health records, health policy, health information technology and consumer medical data topics. Salesforce.com

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Healthcare provides a good business opportunity to information technology companies, a fact reinforced by Salesforce.com (CRM). The company is investing in Practice Fusion, which is involved in the business of electronic health records, health policy, health information technology and consumer medical data topics. Salesforce.com will invest around $10.0 million for a marginal stake in the company, which will generate around $1.0 million of revenue a year for the company.   The cloud computing model introduced by Salesforce.com, uses online software solutions created by it. We believe that the advantages of the model are particularly applicable to the company’s clientele. In addition to the user-friendly interface, cloud computing typically lowers IT staff requirements. So medical practitioners and other professionals who prefer to manage the system on their own will find it particularly useful.   Under the new agreement, Practice Fusion’s EMR (electronic medical records product line) will be combined ...

PennyOmega.com Short Highlights Before the Bell!

PennyOmega.com Short Highlights Before The Bell!

PennyOmega.com Stocks Upgraded, Downgraded and Short Highlights Before the Bell Thursday August 6, 2009

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Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) today reported net sales of $236.0 million for the four-week period ended August 1, 2009, a 22% decrease from net sales of $303.1 million for the four-week period ended August 2, 2008. July comparable store sales decreased 28%. Total Company direct-to-consumer net sales decreased 11% to $16.2 million for the four-week period ended August 1, 2009, compared to the four-week period ended August 2, 2008.

CSC (NYSE: CSC) today announced that the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) has endorsed the company as

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Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) yesterday reported results for the second quarter of 2009. The company was able to significantly improve its operations. Operating income was at its highest in the last three years at $4.1 million. Operating margin was 26.8%, an increase of 164.3% year over year. Growth can be attributed to the company’s headcount reduction in 2008.   The company was able to lower operating expenses across all fronts. Sales and marketing, general and administrative, research and development, restructuring and other expenses, on total revenue, declined 5.5%, 49.8%, 9.6%, and 80.4% year over year, respectively.   Gross margin increased 14% year over year to 74.8% in the quarter. We think that growth was primarily due to greater percentage of higher margin OEM software sales. Gross margin on Software and other was 90.2%, compared to 78.8% in the year-ago quarter. Service and maintenance had a gross margin of 62.5%,

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  Omnicell, Inc. (OMCL) reported poor results for the second quarter of 2009. GAAP-diluted EPS was $0.03, compared to $0.08 in the year-ago quarter. Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP EPS was $0.10, compared to $0.17 in the year-ago quarter. Net revenue for the quarter was $52.6 million, a decline of roughly 17% year over year.  Product revenue declined roughly 21% year over year to approximately $42 million. We believe that the decline can be attributed to the present economic turbulence that has resulted in a lower number of medication and supply automation systems installed. Services and other revenue increased roughly 2% year over year to $10.6 million. Gross margin was roughly flat year over year at approximately 51.2%. Both research and development (R&D) and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses increased as a percentage of total sales due to lower revenue. Higher operating expenses as a ...