Ingenix looks to buy A-Life Medical

Mary Stevens | | Health Exec | Economics
Ingenix, UnitedHealth Group’s health IT subsidiary, will acquire A-Life Medical, a San Diego-based provider of computer-assisted coding (CAC) products and services for the healthcare industry, for an undisclosed amount.

A-Life will become part of the Ingenix Health Care Delivery business, according to Ingenix, of Eden Prairie, Minn. The acquisition follows the alliance Ingenix and A-Life established last year to develop coding technologies for the healthcare market.

Ingenix provides medical coding research and encoding tools for hospitals and physician practices. A-Life Medical provides CAC software. Together, the companies will develop coding technologies for all billing services providers, physician practices and inpatient and outpatient providers, as well as for more medical specialties, according to Ingenix.

A-Life’s LifeCode, a natural language processing (NLP) technology, assists medical coders and clinical abstractors through software applications, including Actus, A-Life’s CAC product. LifeCode reads clinical documentation, deciphers the meaning and context of words within medical records and correctly identifies diagnoses and procedures provided during patient care. The software then recommends appropriate and compliant ICD-9 and CPT-4 codes. Coding staff can confirm the suggested codes, conduct additional research to validate them or adjust them.

This acquisition is the fourth for Ingenix in 2010. the company has acquirred Picis, Executive Health Resources and Axolotl.

Mary Stevens

Related Content

Cardiologist demand is on the rise—can hospitals keep up?
Cardinal Health scoops up two companies for $3.9B
UnitedHealth defends $3.3B Amedisys acquisition
DOJ sues to block UnitedHealth’s $3.3B acquisition of home health giant
Private equity firm to buy Summa Health for $485M
Private equity transactions in healthcare down 15% since 2023, report finds

Around the web

Cardiovascular Business
Payment cuts and beyond: Key takeaways for cardiologists from the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

AI in Healthcare
A modest proposal to rally AI regulators around a simple game plan

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”

Cardiovascular Business
FDA commissioner urges clinicians to join fight against medical misinformation

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, said the clinical community needs to combat health misinformation at a grassroots level. He warned that patients are immersed in a "sea of misinformation without a compass."

Design by Adaptive Theme
Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup