Combined company serves hospitals in 27 states
Brentwood Home Page news reports
Brentwood-based Cogent Healthcare will merge with Hospitalists Management Group to form the largest private hospitalist company in the United States, under an agreement announced Wednesday.  The merger will bring together two of the strongest companies in the rapidly growing hospitalist industry, with nearly 1,000 affiliated hospitalists and extenders practicing in more than 100 healthcare facilities nationwide.

“This combination is a direct result of our strategic outlook for the future of healthcare in the U.S.,” said Dr. Stephen Houff, founder and chief executive officer of HMG, who will become CEO of the combined company.

“Together, we will have a stronger platform to help hospitals meet healthcare reform demands mandating greater transparency, quality and cost efficiency. The combined company will focus on creating closer alignment between hospitals and physicians, which will be necessary in light of reimbursement changes and ultimately accountable care.  Our scale will allow for the significant investment in clinical support, physician recruiting and technology to position us to better help our clients adapt to evolving market needs.”

HMG, based in Canton, Ohio, has focused on partnering with small- to medium-sized hospitals in suburban and rural markets, while Cogent, based in Brentwood, has concentrated on partnering with medium- to large-sized hospitals.  Both companies were pioneers in the field during the 1990s and have developed custom hospital medicine solutions with a hospital-centric partnering approach.

“This is a natural and complementary partnership that will enable our two similarly-sized companies to benefit from each other’s expertise and success,” said Gene Fleming, president and CEO of Cogent, who will become the full-time executive chairman of the new company.

“Both Cogent and HMG have adopted a strategy of partnering with hospitals to build and manage high-performing, on-site programs. We have historically focused on different segments of the hospital market and each of us has a proven ability to deliver value for our clients in hospital medicine and beyond. The merger will allow the combined company to better serve the full spectrum of hospitals and healthcare systems across the U.S.”

The new company will be called Cogent-HMG.  It will be headquartered in Tennessee and will maintain offices in Canton.  The leadership teams of the two companies will be combined, and specific assignments will be announced in the future.

The value of the transaction, which is expected to close this spring, was not disclosed.