Editor's Note: This stoy has been updated to include new information from Bloomberg News.
A trying year for electronic health records giant Allscripts that saw the company fire its chairman and lose three other board members in the process is ending with a replacement at CEO. Former Cerner Chief Operating Officer Paul Black will replace Glen Tullman (pictured), who according to Bloomberg News was fired Wednesday after 15 years at the helm of the troubled Chicago-based company. Black also will replace Lee Shapiro as Allscripts' president, effective immediately.
"We will improve the execution of our strategic vision, deliver on our worldwide client commitments, and continue to innovate," Black said in an announcement. "Our focus will be on creating long-term value for our shareholders."
The statement appears to contrast a pronouncement by Tullman last month that the company would be "evaluating strategic alternatives" in light of "interest expressed in the company by third parties." Chairman of the Board Dennis Chookaszian added that after a "thorough and rigorous review" of those alternatives, the best course of action would be to develop the company's long-term potential.
In April, Allscripts fired then-chairman Phil Pead after shares of its stock plummeted 36 percent following a weak first quarter performance; three other directors on the board--Catherine Burzik, Eugene Fife and Edward Kangas--immediately stepped down in protest of that decision.
Shortly thereafter, Chookaszian replaced Pead, but the company never seemed to truly recover. In May, HealthCor Management, a private equity firm that owns about 5 percent of Allscripts' outstanding shares, filed a lawsuit seeking to launch a proxy fight after Tullman rebuffed demands to resign.
Just last week, Allscripts filed a lawsuit against New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., and EHR vendor Epic after Epic received a $303 million contract to deploy its electronic records technology throughout the system. Allscripts claimed that HHC failed to follow the rules of competitive bidding while overlooking millions of dollars in cost savings by jumping into a deal with Epic.
To learn more:
- read the Allscripts announcement