Vonlay, one of the largest healthcare IT consulting firms in Madison, WI, will be acquired by Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group, according to an announcement today.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in May.
Vonlay, founded in 2009 by Aaron Carlock, has 130 employees at its headquarters in Middleton, WI, near Madison. The company is a consultant for healthcare providers that use software from Epic Systems, the giant electronic health records firm based in nearby Verona, WI. Carlock’s career includes four years working for Epic implementing electronic health records systems for its clients.
Vonlay is part of a group of third-party Epic consulting firms that have grown rapidly in the Madison area over the past several years—including Nordic Consulting and its more than 400 employees—as Epic has risen to grab the largest share of the U.S. electronic health records pie. About 51 percent of Americans will soon have their health records in an Epic software system, according to recent reports. The industry’s growth is largely thanks to the federal government’s push for hospitals and other healthcare providers to implement electronic health records systems.
Vonlay will become part of Huron Healthcare, a division that makes up more than half of the revenue generated by parent company Huron Consulting Group (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HURN]]). Vonlay’s services include helping healthcare providers implement, optimize, and maintain software, build online patient portals, and aggregate and analyze data, Huron said.
“The addition of Vonlay introduces a new set of capabilities for Huron Healthcare to deliver value to hospital, health system, and physician group clients,” said Huron Consulting Group president and CEO James Roth in a press release. “Vonlay’s services will enhance our performance improvement and clinical transformation solutions, and will enable our clients to better realize a return on the significant investment that many of them have made in automating electronic health records.”
Huron intends to keep Vonlay’s operations and employees in Middleton, a spokeswoman told Xconomy. Carlock, Vonlay managing partner Mike Kolpien, and Vonlay development director Farhan Ahmad will become Huron managing directors.
“We are excited to join such an outstanding organization with a proven track record for improving operations and transforming care,” Carlock said in the press release.
