Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) And your first question comes from the line of Brooks O’Neil .
Brooks O’Neil – Dougherty & Company
Hi. This is Brooks O’Neil with Dougherty & Company. Good morning, and congratulations on the good quarter. Ron, thank you very much for your comments on integration of your diagnostics business and the progress with new products. Could you also provide us with a brief overview of your integration efforts on the health management side and any successes you’ve had recently in driving convergence between the two sides of your business?
Ron Zwanziger
Well, the integration at Alere has gone very well. And most of the rationalizations have taken placed. And there are still some rationalizations around 90 and closing of those call centers, which will continue throughout 2009. In terms of successes, clearly the – of the merging of rapid diagnostics in health management, clearly our view has done particularly well around individuals who are taking blood thinners. You probably noticed from Dave’s comment that we have a stellar quarter in the unit dealing with this. And the vast majority of the increased we have had is around the service model of providing the service function to the individuals so that – through the service functions.
So that’s the first one where we’re seeing significant results. We’re also seeing changes in behavior by insurance companies and the payers around this as well. And they see the benefit of what we’re doing. So we’re really very pleased about – not only on the integration going on at Alere, but the integration of rapid diagnostics into their programs.
Brooks O'Neil – Dougherty & Company
Great. Thank you very much. Secondly, could you just give us a feel for recent contacts with employer’s health plan in government entities? Obviously, some people think that the response of those types of players to the softening economy is to cut benefit programs and eliminate out management efforts. Are you seeing that today?
Ron Zwanziger
No. We’re not. There have been one or two minor requests for some health plans for some delays and delay in starting. But that’s been very minor. We have seen because of less employment and because we get paid by number of members, we have seen a decreased because of this sort of layoffs going on around the world. I mean, in the US in particular. So we have seen a bit of a fall off from that.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
