Healtheon was a
dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com (alternatively rendered dot.com, dot com, dotcom or .com), is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website on the World Wide Web that uses the popular top-level domain ". ...
founded by
James H. Clark
James Henry Clark (born March 23, 1944) is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in comput ...
and Pavan Nigam. The company's mission was to "use the power of computing and the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
to revolutionize the
healthcare industry
The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, a ...
, stripping away its inefficiencies and inequities and streamlining it for the new millennium".
In 1999, the company was acquired by
WebMD
WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites.
It was foun ...
.
History
In mid-1995,
James H. Clark
James Henry Clark (born March 23, 1944) is an American entrepreneur and computer scientist. He founded several notable Silicon Valley technology companies, including Silicon Graphics, Netscape, myCFO, and Healtheon. His research work in comput ...
, the founder of
Netscape
Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was onc ...
, came up with the idea to modernize technology in the health care industry. He founded Healthscape in early 1996 with funding from
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...
. To avoid confusion with Netscape, the company changed its name to Healtheon.
The company's first big idea was to develop a system for linking insurers and
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...
departments. However, the idea failed since insurers dismissed it as too expensive and human resource departments were not interested.
[
In 1997, ]Mike Long
Michael Long is a former professional Magic: The Gathering player who was a high-profile figure on the Pro Tour in its formative years.
''Magic: The Gathering''
''Magic: The Gathering'' was released in 1993 and a Pro Tour launched the fol ...
became chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the company. Five months later, the company formed a research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
partnership with Brown & Toland, a network of 1,600 physicians in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.[
in February 1998, the company announced the acquisition of ActaMed, a medical-records clearinghouse for doctors and insurers, for $150 million, which gave the company a source of revenue.][
In August 1998, the company filed for an ]initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
, but the offering was cancelled in October 1998, after stock prices dropped due to the 1998 Russian financial crisis
The Russian financial crisis (also called the ruble crisis or the Russian flu) began in Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had s ...
.
In February 1999, the company completed its IPO and became a public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
and the stock price rose 400% on its first day of trading.
On April 21, 1999, the company announced the acquisition of MedE America for $478 million in stock.
On May 20, 1999, the company announced a merger with WebMD
WebMD is an American corporation known primarily as an online publisher of news and information pertaining to human health and well-being. The site includes information pertaining to drugs. It is one of the top healthcare websites.
It was foun ...
.
References
{{Dot-com Bubble
1996 establishments in California
American companies established in 1996
1999 initial public offerings
1999 mergers and acquisitions
Defunct online companies of the United States
Defunct software companies of the United States
Dot-com bubble