In an effort to strengthen its industry expertise and geographical coverage, NTT DATA Services has acquired Cognosante Consulting, LLC, the state health care consulting practice under Cognosante.
As part of NTT DATA, the consulting practice will focus on client IT strategy, project management, quality assurance and independent verification and validation services, according to the company.
Specifically, Cognosante Consulting provides IT strategy, planning and quality assurance for state Health and Human Services Department agencies going through Medicaid, human services IT and business transformation programs. NTT DATA will add more than 250 consulting resources and intellectual property supporting IT transformations specific to Medicaid in over 20 states.
“The acquisition of Cognosante’s consulting practice immediately establishes us as a leader in a growing health and human services market and enhances the value we can deliver to our clients in the public sector and healthcare,” said NTT DATA CEO Bob Pryor.
Jim Joyce, the general manager of Cognosante’s consulting practice, said combining his team with NTT DATA’s expertise will enhance its ability to service clients and support IT projects for state HHS departments as they modernize IT systems.
“As states revamp their legacy systems and business models, there is significant opportunity for NTT DATA,” Joyce said. “We are excited to be part of their long-term strategy to support successful state IT implementations.”
Joyce will continue to lead the organization and serve as senior vice president with NTT DATA.
The acquisition comes as the growth Cognosante Consulting was experiencing — increasing top line revenue and the number of employees by 500 percent since 2010 — began to create conflicts with Cognosante’s core business, according to the company founder and CEO Michele Kang. This conflict led the company to look for selling opportunities and found a match with NTT DATA, Kang said.
Commenting on the news, Bob Kipps, managing director of KippsDeSanto & Co., said, “This highly strategic transaction provides critical depth and capabilities to NTT while simultaneously allowing Cognosante to become a more pure play federal health IT firm.”