Athenahealth to acquire mobile drug reference Epocrates

Athenahealth, known for its electronic health record and management solutions, will purchase Epocrates, the creators of one of the most popular medical reference apps among doctors. As GigaOM reports, Athenahealth will pay US$293 million for the software company, which was originally founded in the late '90s and created medical reference material for the Palm Pilot.

With the emergence of smartphones and tablets, Epocrates now focuses on apps for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, along with online versions of its medical reference guide. With Athenahealth already offering its services to many healthcare providers, the acquisition seems like a rather perfect fit. The company hopes to use the Epocrates apps, which are reportedly used by as many as half of the doctors in the US, to widen its own footprint.

Source: GigaOM