A Medical Device Daily

Tenet Healthcare (Dallas) reported that it has completed the previously disclosed sale of its entire interest in Broadlane (also Dallas) to TowerBrook Capital Partners (Medical Device Daily, June 25, 2008). Proceeds are $160 million. The company said that 10% of the proceeds will be held in escrow and distributed over about six years.

As previously disclosed, the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Tenet said it expects to record a gain on the transaction, which will be substantially offset for tax purposes by existing net operating loss carryforwards.

Tenet will continue as a Broadlane client for both supply chain management and clinical workforce management services.

Tenet, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute-care hospitals and related ancillary healthcare businesses, which include ambulatory surgery centers and diagnostic imaging centers.

In other dealmaking news:

• Trimedyne (Lake Forest, California) reported that it has entered into a letter of intent with FemSuite (San Francisco), a privately held company that has developed a variety of devices for use in the gynecology field.

Trimedyne has offered to license seven of its U.S. patents and two U.S. patent applications exclusively to FemSuite for any use in the fields of gynecology and gynecologic oncology, and exclusively to FemSuite for use in fecal incontinence in the fields of urology, general surgery and GI surgery.

FemSuite will organize a subsidiary to which the license will be assigned, which plans to test and market up to four products covered by the patents.

• RehabCare Group (St. Louis) reported that it has reached an agreement with HealthSouth (Birmingham, Alabama) to sell the operations of RehabCare Rehabilitation Hospital-Permian Basin (Midland, Texas) to the national physical rehabilitation provider. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Operations at the 38-bed freestanding rehabilitation hospital are scheduled to end on or about Aug. 29. Remaining patients at close will be transferred to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Midland-Odessa to complete their course of treatment.

John Short, PhD, RehabCare president/CEO, said, "The need for two rehabilitation hospitals in this area has been questioned for some time. In order to rationalize the market going forward, we need to remove unnecessary duplication of services. Likewise, when we look at the long-term potential of our total Hospital portfolio, this divestiture makes strategic sense for us."

RehabCare Rehabilitation Hospital-Permian Basin, formerly Memorial Rehabilitation Hospital, and HealthSouth have been providing similar rehabilitation services to the Midland-Odessa community for 15 years. HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Midland-Odessa, a 60-bed rehabilitation hospital, opened in 1993.

Memorial Rehabilitation Hospital opened in 1988 under contract management by RehabCare. In 2006, RehabCare acquired the assets of the hospital from Midland Memorial Hospital and subsequently renamed it.

• Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC; Hackensack, New Jersey) reported that an application has been filed with the state Department of Health and Human Services for a Certificate of Need allowing for the transfer of ownership of all of the former Pascack Valley Hospital licenses to a joint venture to be formed by HUMC and Legacy Hospital Partners (LHP; Plano, Texas). Pending the transfer, the new entity, Hackensack University Medical Center North at Pascack Valley (HUMC North at PV), will be permitted to operate and maintain all types of hospital beds and licensed services formerly provided by Pascack Valley Hospital.

The companies said this joint venture will enable needed acute-care services to become available to the greater Westwood community, which includes both the Pascack Valley and Northern Valley regions. The project will involve about $120 million in private investment, with no use of public dollars, they said. The hospital will be completely refurbished and renovated and equipped with the latest technology.

HUMC North at PV anticipates operating 128 acute-care beds. The planned bed capacity is considerably smaller (56% less) than the licensed capacity of the former Pascack Valley Hospital (291 beds). Like the former Pascack Valley Hospital, HUMC North at PV will serve 14 municipalities located in the far northeastern corner of Bergen County, New Jersey.

• Kryptiq (Portland, Oregon), a provider of next-generation healthcare connectivity solutions, said it has acquired Secure Network Solutions (SNS; Monmouth, New Jersey). Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Kryptiq said SNS brings key administrative workflows to its Connect IQ Platform, including automated appointment reminders, waitlist management, and electronic billing statements.

"Our products have dramatically improved operational efficiency and revenue for our customers," said Ken Ostrowski, president of Secure Network Solutions. "Kryptiq has the most robust, far-reaching and widely deployed connectivity platform, and working with Kryptiq will enable us to increase the strength of our solutions throughout the healthcare IT market."

Kryptiq provides next-generation healthcare connectivity solutions, enabling healthcare providers and health plans to utilize and share vital information effectively.