Wizzard Software Announces Plans to Acquire Second Interim Home Healthcare Agency.PITTSBURGH -- Wizzard Software (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). :WIZD) announced today that it has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire the outstanding stock of a second Interim home healthcare agency for its MedivoxRx Technologies subsidiary. This profitable agency is the largest acquisition Wizzard Software has made to date and is the second home healthcare agency to be acquired by Wizzard, the first being Interim Healthcare of Wyoming in September 2005. "Not only is this a significant strategic acquisition from a financial standpoint, with them doing over $5.0M in 2004 revenues, but this acquisition along with Interim Healthcare of Wyoming, provides the foundation we need to initiate our speech recognition system for the visiting nurse vis·it·ing nurse n. A registered nurse employed by a public health agency or hospital to promote community health and especially to visit and administer treatment to sick people in their homes. industry, one of our strategic goals for 2006," said Chris Spencer Chris Spencer may refer to:
U.S. government programs in effect since 1966. Medicare covers most people 65 or older and those with long-term disabilities. Part A, a hospital insurance plan, also pays for home health visits and hospice care. sectors, this new agency is a significant force in the 'Private Pay' market and will provide vital input and reflexes for our speech technology entrance into this very important segment of the marketplace. With the addition of this agency, Wizzard will be able to address with speech technology the most significant payment sectors of the home healthcare industry." To receive payment for Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance work, home healthcare agencies (HHA's) must complete extensive forms, with some being up to 22 pages in length. Over the last year, Wizzard has seen a growing trend in the number of home healthcare agencies seeking to reduce costs and increase productivity by adding speech recognition and text-to-speech to its forms, telehealth products and reminder services. After months of investigation management believes that its expertise in applying speech technology can have a major impact on the profit margins of home healthcare agencies as well as enhance the working conditions for visiting nurses by significantly reducing the amount of time spent each day filling in forms and transcribing patient notes. A rapidly growing component of the healthcare system in the USA, there are approximately 12,000 HHA's currently operating in the U.S. Many HHA's are very profitable and produce attractive cash flows. By acquiring home healthcare agencies for its MedivoxRx subsidiary, Wizzard plans to make money for its shareholders by: encouraging economies of scale; increasing productivity by adding speech technology to forms and other processes; increasing revenues by offering off-the-shelf speech based products such as talking blood pressure monitors, talking medication reminders, talking insulin reminders, etc.; aggressively adopting "talking" telehealth as a means to increase patient visits without increasing staff; and using these acquisitions as a platform for building customized home healthcare speech technology systems which can then be sold to 12,000 other HHA's in the U.S. Each year, over 7.6 million people receive home healthcare services according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the National Association for Home Care. In 2004, annual expenditures in home healthcare were projected to reach $45.2 billion according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. ), Office of the Actuary actuary One who calculates insurance risks and premiums. Actuaries compute the probability of the occurrence of such events as birth, marriage, illness, accidents, and death. , National Health Statistics Group. In November of 2005 the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, announced a 2.8 percent increase in Medicare payment Noun 1. medicare payment - a check reimbursing an aged person for the expenses of health care medicare check bank check, check, cheque - a written order directing a bank to pay money; "he paid all his bills by check" rates to home health agencies for calendar year 2006. The increase would bring an extra $330 million in payments to home health agencies. Additionally, Wizzard announced today the creation of a special dividend linked directly with its strategy of acquiring profitable home healthcare companies. This Series "D" Preferred Stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. will be issued directly to all beneficial shareholders at a ratio of 1 share for every 200 shares of common stock held as of the record date (TBD TBD abbr. to be determined ) based on home healthcare acquisitions. The Series D Preferred Stock is non-voting, non-transferable, without dividend and redeemable only by the Company. Management and the Board of Directors have determined this stock dividend vehicle to be a proper structure to reward long term investors who share the Company's speech enabled, home healthcare vision. Disclaimer The closing of this acquisition is subject to the standard due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. investigation processes, successful financing, franchise approval, the completion of a full audit of the financial statements and negotiation and execution of definitive agreements. Management estimates this process will take at least 90 days. There can be no guarantee that the outcome of the due diligence process will result in a completed transaction. About Wizzard Software: Founded in 1996, Wizzard Software has become a leader in the speech technology application development market. Wizzard architects solutions to business problems using its expertise in consulting, speech development tools and building speech based applications for the Desktop and Internet. Wizzard has achieved global recognition because of its expertise with voice communication whether it is via computer or telephone. Wizzard's successes have lead to expanding speech technology opportunities in both the government and commercial sectors including several healthcare industry products and services. Legal Notice: Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. : "Forward-looking Statements" as defined in the Private Securities litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions, actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies and acts of terror against the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . |
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