It's gone but it's staying. That's the situation with HealthMedia. Gone is the old private company. Staying is the Ann Arbor-based firm that is now a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The corporate behemoth acquired HealthMedia Monday for an undisclosed amount to create a wellness and prevention business platform. HealthMedia and its 140 employees (most of which are stakeholders in the firm) expect to stay and grow in Ann Arbor for the foreseeable future.

"We think this is an important space for HealthMedia," says Susan Odenthal, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson. "We expect it will continue to grow as it has grown in the past."

The company, born from 30-plus years of behavioral science research at the University of Michigan, has grown to 140 employees. It has added 10 in the last few months alone. Of those more than 100 of them are based out of Tree Town.

HealthMedia helps health plan providers save time and money using scalable behavior change interventions through the Internet. The firm uses its technology and behavioral science to deliver individually tailored behavior change suggestions and programs.

The net result has been increased medical compliance and productivity while reducing medical utilization, which, of course, increases profitability for health plans and employers. Johnson & Johnson has been a client of HealthMedia for years before the acquisition.

Source: Susan Odenthal, spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson and Caren Kenney, a spokeswoman for HealthMedia
Writer: Jon Zemke