eHealth Expands Via Latin America

After securing $17.3 million in total funding, Washington-based eHealth Latin America recently expanded its services by acquiring Brazilian online health-care transaction solution provider Infomed.

“[Infomed] had already begun to do the front-end claims essential to connectivity [and is] in negotiations with 12 potential clients,” said Laura Gill, chief operating officer of eHealth LA. “Infomed provides the crux of the business for us to build around.”

As a service, Infomed targets hospitals, clinics, laboratories and diagnostics centers. It allows institutions and companies to share everything from bills and patient records to diagnoses and exams.

As such, Gill said she doesn?t consider eHealth LA and Infomed to be Internet companies, and therefore subject to the volatility everything Internet-related is experiencing today.

“It uses the Internet as a tool for brick and mortar transactions. It?s really infrastructure, [especially] in Latin America where there are no legacy systems and [hospitals and other institutions] like to go directly into the Web.”

EHealth itself was founded by Latin Healthcare Group last year. The company seeks to provide content, connectivity and commerce solutions for Latin American institutions, companies, physicians, as well as consumers. Among its partners are U.S. health-care groups such as United Health Group and Healthsouth. The company also operates properties like Bibliomed.com and Buenasalud.