Siemens Healthineers finalized the acquisition of San Francisco-based healthcare tech firm Medicalis, signaling Siemens’ commitment to integrating population health management into radiology.

Medicalis’ clinical decision support (CDS) offerings are of particular importance in the face of the looming requirement that care providers use clinical decision support to order advanced imaging, mandated by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). Imaging practices are running out of time to integrate CDS into clinical practice with a January 1, 2018, deadline, but Siemens believes the Medicalis purchase will allow Siemens customers to achieve PAMA compliance while retaining control over the content.

“This acquisition allows us to extend the Siemens Healthineers strategy for Value-Based Healthcare, by helping to optimize both utilization and departmental clinical workflow. In this way, we intend to support best practice care pathways and the reduction of unwarranted variation for high-impact conditions,” said Robert Taylor, head of digital services population health management at Siemens Healthineers.

The acquisition, announced in mid-April, proceeded briskly despite possible changes to Siemens’ healthcare division. While Siemens announced their intention to carve out the Healthineers division in November the German industrial giant is still considering several divestment options, including selling shares in a new public offering or spinning the business off to existing shareholders.