Authentidate (ADAT): Exploding Demand for Shares

Authentidate Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: ADAT) $0.78- Authentidate has been on a tear recently with shares up 189% from an all-time low of $0.27 reached on July 7. In May, I wrote about ADAT when it was trading at $0.43 and recommended the stock since I believed it was undervalued.   Since its trading low, daily volume has averaged 108k for the subsequent 14 trading sessions. For the 14 sessions prior to its low, ADAT’s average daily volume was 17k. Hence, there has been strong demand for ADAT shares. This trend bodes well for continued share price appreciation.

I think there are a couple factors responsible for the recent rally. First, ADAT is a good value with $0.53 cash/share and is expected to reach cash flow breakeven in the next 2-3 quarters. Second, ADAT recently announced a new joint venture with EncounterCare Solutions, Inc. (OTC PK: ECSL that represents its entry into a new market vertical. This new segment offers a significant opportunity for revenue growth and profitability.

ExpressMD Joint Venture Press Release (June 10, 2008):

The joint venture called ExpressMD^TM Solutions will provide in-home patient vital signs monitoring systems and services to improve care for patients with chronic illnesses and reduce cost of care by delivering results to their health care providers via the Internet. ExpressMD Solutions will combine EncounterCare's Electronic House Call^TM patient vital signs monitoring appliances with a specially designed web-based management and monitoring software module based on Authentidate's Inscrybe^TM Healthcare platform. ExpressMD Solutions will enable unattended measurement of patients' vital signs and related health information.  Patients' data will then be securely sent electronically to each patient's health care provider for review. ExpressMD Solutions will be designed to aid wellness and preventative care, and deliver better continuity of care to specific patient segments such as the elderly, special needs or pediatric patients with chronic illnesses who require regular monitoring of serious medical conditions.

According to a January 2008 research study conducted at the State University of New York at Fredonia, the demand for patient monitoring systems in the primary healthcare sector in the United States is forecast to increase 5.9 percent per year to an estimated $12 billion market by 2012 based on expected contributions to positive therapeutic outcomes and efficiencies. Additionally, the study indicates that the market for self-monitoring activities will also expand as treatment for chronic care patients, especially patients with asthma, diabetes and heart disorders focuses on preventative care.

Using ExpressMD Solution's offerings health care providers will be able to easily view their specific patient's vital statistics and make adjustments to the patient's care plans via the Internet. ExpressMD Solution's easy to use patient monitoring system is intended to provide patients with increased peace of mind and improved condition outcomes through a combination of care plan schedule reminders and comprehensive disease management education on their in-home communication unit. The service will provide intelligent routing to alert on-duty caregivers whenever a patient's vital signs are outside of the practitioner's pre-set ranges.

Health care providers and health insurers also are expected to benefit by having additional tools to improve patient care, and reduce overall in-person and emergency room patient visits.

"EncounterCare's expertise with in-home patient monitoring technologies and Authentidate's expertise in online healthcare systems and securely managing patients' documents has allowed us to shorten the development cycle and ready this solution for delivery in record time," said Ron Mills, CEO of EncounterCare Solutions, Inc.

"The ExpressMD Solutions joint venture will allow Authentidate and EncounterCare to leverage existing portions of our respective healthcare products as well as existing healthcare industry relationships from both companies," said Ben Benjamin, President of Authentidate Holding Corp. "The telemedicine market is a large market that we believe will benefit from our document management capabilities.  By entering this market through a joint venture, we will be able to strongly penetrate an emerging market, while expanding the use of our platform within the health care community.

ExpressMD Signs First Contract with Cyntrist:

On July 8^th, it was announced that Authentidate and EncounterCare had signed their first user contract with Cyntrist, for use in remote monitoring of Diabetes patients located through out the Southeastern U.S.  The opportunity in the Diabetes space is colossal. In a recent study, the CDC reported that 24 million Americans (8% of population) are afflicted by Diabetes, a number which has increased by more than 3 million in just two years. The ExpressMD solution provides physicians with the ability to remotely monitor patients’ glucose levels, weight, etc. on a daily basis and adjust treatment as needed. Not only does this enhance the quality of patient care, it reduces the need for regular office visits, thus reducing the cost of medical care. The advantages are compelling, and with such a large addressable market, ADAT may benefit substantially.

Conclusion:

The recent news comes after Authentidate management had stated that they believed cash flow break-even could be attained by CQ1 2009. The implication was that existing business was likely sufficient to attain that goal, for it was an issue of customers ramping up implementation. Now, with these recent developments regarding the ExpressMD joint venture, Authentidate’s prospects have become even brighter.