IPC The Hospitalist Company Acquires Texas Practice Group

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM), a leading national hospitalist physician group practice company, announced today that it has acquired Austin Hospital Physicians, PA, (AHP) based in Austin, Texas. The acquisition represents a new market for IPC in Texas, adding to its well-established presence in the state.  AHP has an annualized volume of approximately 9,000 patient encounters.

R. Jeffrey Taylor, President and COO of IPC, commented, "We are very pleased to enter the Austin market with this high-quality practice. We welcome this opportunity to offer our hospitalist services both to local referring physicians and to Austin community hospitals."

Sean Coughlin MD, co-founder of AHP, said, "My partner Dr. Scott Clitheroe and I are happy to be joining IPC and will remain with the practice in a clinical leadership capacity. We look forward to having the additional recruitment, marketing, and technology support that IPC gives its physicians, in order to further enhance the hospitalist services that we provide to the Austin community."

About IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM) is a leading physician group practice company focused on the delivery of hospitalist medicine and related facility-based services. IPC's physicians and affiliated providers manage the care of patients in coordination with primary care physicians and specialists. The Company offers its providers the comprehensive training, information technology, and management support systems necessary to improve the quality and reduce the cost of patient care in the facilities it serves. For more information, visit the IPC website at www.hospitalist.com.

SOURCE IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc.