MediConnect reports acquisitions, funding

SOUTH JORDAN — MediConnect Inc. on Tuesday announced a $15 million funding round from private investors, the addition of prominent people to its board of directors and the closing of the acquisition of another medical record retrieval company.

And on deck is the announcement of another acquisition, which will more than double the size of the company's employee base.

MediConnect's acquisition of Salt Lake-based Zerop Medical LLC for an undisclosed amount added nearly 50 employees to MediConnect's 300. The combined company, consolidated into MediConnect's South Jordan offices, will be known as MediConnect Global.

Amy Rees Lewis, president and chief executive officer of MediConnect Global, said another acquisition has been completed and details will be announced in a few weeks. That move will bring the company's employee figure to more than 800.

"It's an international acquisition," Lewis said. "Part of the reason for the funding round was an expansion into an international presence, and this company has an international office."

MediConnect, founded in 1996, provides online medical record retrieval for the U.S. legal and insurance industries. Zerop was founded in 2000 and provided medical record retrieval and management services for the legal industry.

Judd Armstrong, founder and CEO of Zerop, will join MediConnect Global and help its expansion plans by leading the establishment of a sales office in the Asia Pacific region.

"Zerop and MediConnect customers will noticeably benefit from the synergies that will flow from the collaboration on system and process improvements between these premium medical record retrieval companies," Armstrong said in a prepared statement.

"MediConnect has a reputation for developing the world's finest technology, products and services for electronic medical record retrieval and management; our shared commitment to world-class service results in a truly outstanding global company."

Joining the MediConnect board are James Lee Sorenson, James LeVoy Sorenson and Dr. Naresh Trehan. The Sorensons and other individuals led the funding round announced Tuesday. The original investor in the company was Salt Lake-based vSpring Capital.

James Lee Sorenson has founded several companies, including ones involved in video compression and streaming, portable infusion pain treatment and video relay services that help deaf individuals communicate with the hearing world.

James LeVoy Sorenson is a medical device inventor and entrepreneur who has created several now-commonplace medical devices.

Trehan, a cardiac surgeon and medical administrator, is founder, executive director and chief cardiovascular surgeon for Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center. Trehan has served as personal surgeon to the president of India since 1991 and is chairman of Global Health Private Ltd., through which he is building an integrated health-care facility in Gurgaon, India, currently referred to as MediCity.