Health care revenue and payment cycle management company Emdeon Inc. yesterday announced its latest acquisition — the $18.9 million purchase of Chapin Revenue Cycle Management LLC.

Tampa-based Chapin provides hospital-based revenue cycle services such as accounts receivable management, medical denials, appeals and collection improvement programs. The company's proprietary contract management system — which calculates reimbursement amounts from health care payers and contract arrangements — was part of Emdeon's attraction to the firm.

"Healthcare providers continue to face financial challenges associated with rising accounts receivable balances, inaccurate claim submissions and declining cash collections from unpaid or underpaid claims," said Emdeon CEO George Lazenby in a statement. "Our acquisition of Chapin will help Emdeon address these industry-wide problems and strengthen our already solid foundation in revenue cycle management solutions across the entire patient encounter."

The deal consisted of $16.2 million in cash and $2.7 million in restricted shares of Emdeon Class A common stock (Ticker: EM), plus contingent payments of up to $8.1 million in additional restricted Class A shares.

Chapin is the third acquisition for the Nashville-based company this year. In January it picked up Utah-based FutureVision Technologies for $20 million in cash, and in March it decided to purchase an Indiana-based consulting firm for $11 million. And last month the company took an equity stake in a California health care IT firm.

Emdeon shares opened the day at $13.28, about 20 percent below their year-to-date highs in April.