Local health care management and consulting firm Southwind Health Partners has been acquired by the Advisory Board Company.

Washington, D.C. based Advisory (Ticker: ABCO) disclosed the buy with its fourth quarter financial results yesterday. The deal was worth $11 million plus an undisclosed earn out, said John Deane, founder and CEO of Southwind.

"It's a tremendous injection of energy and gives us a shot in the arm in terms of new and exciting things to pursue and the opportunity to grow perhaps a lot more quickly than we have in the past and make a bigger difference in the American health care system," Deane said.

Deane told NashvillePost.com the acquisition will benefit the physician practice management firm by giving it access to Advisory's some 2,600 client hospitals. In addition, Advisory will help Southwind accelerate the development of a business intelligence software product its creating to let physicians to extract and manage data from their physician practice management and general accounting systems. Southwind will incorporate Advisory's clinical integration consulting practice into its business, focusing on organizing hospitals and their physicians around quality and cost measures.

Nashville-based Southwind has experienced strong growth in recent years. Deane told NashvillePost.com in November the business, which employs 40 people, grew 86 percent in 2008, compared its compound annual growth rate of 45 percent over the previous decade.

With more hospitals and physicians exploring doctor employment and other physician alignment models, 2009 was a good year, too. “We’re having a record quarter,” he said at the time.

Founded in 1998, Southwind will now operate as a division of the health care business strategy and management company.