According to the public 10k filing with the SEC, in January of 2009, MEDITECH’s board of directors approved the issuance of up to 225,000 shares of stock to its staff at the price of $37/share.

Of course approving “up to” that number doesn’t mean that number will actually be made available or specify to which staff members they will be made available to.

In 2008 MEDITECH made just 206,155 shares available for purchase to “certain” staff members. So the number of shares for sale is actually up from a year ago. It’s just a question of who those “certain” staff members who can purchase them are.

Over the past two years 50,000 shares were purchased by Neil, Howard and two additional company officers. If they did the same in 2009, that would leave 175,000 shares available for purchase by others.

If the additional 11 company officers and members of the board each were to purchase the same minimum listed by other officers in the past year, that would be seven more individual purchases of 5,000 shares, or another 35,000 shares added to the 50,000 already accounted for.

That would reduce the net total of shares for sale to “other staff” to just 140,000 . That would amount to just over 50 shares per staff member (based on the over 2,700 employees at MEDITECH according to their website).

At $37/share that would amount to an investment of just $1850 per employee.

But who will those shares be sold to? Who will be the “selected” staff members?

The previous comment indicating that no shares are being made available to staff for purchase is close to the truth when compared to past history, but it is clear that slightly more shares will be offered for sale, just to far fewer staff members.

According to sources, a statement has been issued by Neil to the company as to why shares are not going to be generally offered to qualifying staff as has been the case in years past. The rationale is linked to the current economic climate. But is that really the truth?

Could it be that even though the board has approved more shares for sale to staff in 2009 than were purchased by “certain staff” in 2008 (206,155 shares), that the shares approved for sale in 2009 will only be available to an even more select sub-set of staff?

If this is true, what does this mean? Are certain individuals in the company being positioned for an impending windfall? It’s clear that Perot Systems really wants to buy MEDITECH. They’re already marketing their new hosted MEDITECH solution “MSite” (http://www.perotsystems.com/meditech/Technology/ManagedServices/MSiteMEDITECHHostingSolution).

In addition, MEDITECH has recently announced that they are “partnering”" with Perot to help customers realize the maximum benefit from the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). (http://www.meditech.com/AboutMeditech/pages/newsarraannouncement.htm)

Could it be that the seemingly inevitable acquisition of MEDITECH by Perot is right around the corner? Given the fact that Perot’s Healthcare business unit
has been ranked #1 in the 2008 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards report in the
category of ‘Clinical Implementation – Principal’. This award from the KLAS
organization represents the second such honor for Perot Systems in 2008.

In March of 2008, Perot Systems received the #1 performance ranking in a KLAS report examining professional services firms that provide clinical
implementation services.

Let’s face it, Perot has the horsepower to deploy systems, software and services on a scale that MEDITECH can’t come close to on their own.

Besides, who wants the headaches of implementing and then servicing all of these customer in a capacity that far exceeds any demands ever placed on MEDITECH in the past.

If I were to prognosticate, I could see Perot purchasing the operations components of MEDITECH (Sales, Implementation and Service) and leaving MEDITECH some autonomy as a technology development partner.

Nobody has a crystal ball, but if I had to predict the future without one, that’s how I would put all of these pieces together.

Three requirements:

1) Three complete calendar years of employment must be served
2) There is a set limit tied to the number of shares someone can purchase based on a formula that most likely mixes in several factors such as your earnings, tenure and position in the company.
3) The option to buy is only available to those who qualify for a short window of time during the early part of each calendar year.

I’ve not heard that there is any change to this long-standing practice this year.

Actually, the big rumor is that MEDITECH is NOT allowing employees to buy stock this year. A big deal, because the stock purchase plan is a big part of the compensation there.

Why would Rob change his values and character overnight. He spent his entire public career trying to “make a difference” Whatever he does certainly won’t be ceremonial and is unlikely to have anything to do with lobbying. I would vote that he will help implement the strategic plan that is driving this process and then retire at some point. His depth of knowledge has tremendous value but I doubt it is something he would withhold from the common good by becoming a high priced consultant. We all do owe him a huge dept of gratitude however and he should be compensated for his service but he will continue to make genuine contributions to the industry versus playing the lobbying game.

I am a “lowly” consumer advocate who makes a living implementing EMR’s who occasionally tries to bring that voice forward. I served on both the governance committee for the AHIC Successor and on the selection committee for the Board of Directors – for the NeHC and got to know him (so it is easy to figure out who I am). The night before they announced David Blumenthall would be going to ONC Rob called me peronsally to confirm the rumor and assure me that the grass-roots would continue to be heard. That takes class and a real commitment to empowering patients and providers.

Remember he spent most of his career at the VA where they have the only working national health information system in the country. His team at ONC (only about 6 people) built the foundation that made it possible for the stimulus package to include billions for health information technology and I doubt that over-night a public servant with his commitment and values to actually solving problems would do anything that wasn’t congruent with his beliefs.