Steve Malik joked at a recent WRALTechWire event that he wasn’t going to give back any retirement gifts he received recently when stepping away from Medfusion, the medical IT firm he founded and sold to Intuit. Well, he certainly is “unretired” now, having deciding to buy the company back after earlier this year declaring he wouldn’t. And now that he’s back in control, the Triangle entrepreneur quickly learned he had seized a tiger by the tail.

He needed help.

So earlier this week, Malik announced that he not only had hired an experienced life science industry executive as president for Medfusion but also added the exec to his board and took him on board as an investor.

Meet Vern Davenport, a well-known Triangle executive who once served as CEO at MISYS Healthcare.

WRALTechWire asked Malik about his reasoning for hiring Davenport, whom he had worked with as a partner when MISYS worked with Medfusion prior to the Intuit acquisition.

“Vern brings many years of healthcare IT experience and a track record of success to Medfusion,” Malik explained.

“I think his proven talent in operations and transformational change is the perfect complement to the skill set that I bring to the table, and together we can lead Medfusion to really transform provider to patient communications and ultimately, how consumers manage their healthcare.”

When Malik announced his decision to reacquire what was then called Intuit Healthcare, he said he was “amped” by the opportunity. Malik sold Medfusion three years ago for $91 million and remained with the firm until early this year. Then came “retirement.”

But after leaving Intuit, Malik began looking for opportunities to invest his personal windfall from the sale. Once he reviewed many opportunities, he decided there was no better deal around than his former company.

And Malik quickly found that his beliefs were justified. Business is booming.

WRALTechWire asked why he decided to hire a president and how does that role fit in with yours as CEO.

“After spending a few months at Medfusion and really getting a chance to immerse myself back into the business, I came to the conclusion that the opportunity we have as a company is even greater than I initially thought,” Malik responded.

“Vern and I bring together two lifetimes of healthcare expertise that we can leverage to take advantage of the assets we have today, accelerate growth, and bring value to both providers and patients.”

Terms of Davenport’s investment in Medfusion weren’t disclosed. 

Davenport’s Thinking

Like Malik, Davenport looked inside the Medfusion business opportunity and decided he saw too much potential upside to NOT join the team.

“Joining Medfusion presented a tremendous business opportunity,” Davenport explained when asked why he made the moves as an executive and investor.

“I very much appreciate the foundation that has been built at Medfusion, and that the technology has great potential in a healthcare market that is going to be more consumer driven and personal,” he added.

“I believe that my industry experience can be very helpful in delivering on the vision that Steve and I have for the company”

The “vision”” the two of them have points to Davenport’s bottom-line aspect of the deal – but he won’t disclose details.

.”I decided to become an equity holder for the same reason as I joined the company,” Davenport said. “I saw a tremendous business opportunity that I wanted to be part of.”

Davenport also disclosed that the decisions made by himself and Malik were not rushed.

“Steve and I have been talking about this since before he re-purchased the company,” he said.

Now that he is settling into a new role, Davenport is clear about his duties.

“My primary goal,” he said,  ”is to provide leadership that will allow Medfusion to deliver on the potential of the company.”

The Back Story

Medfusion, which Malik founded in 1996, developed software tools to help doctors communicate with patients. Those tools covered a range of services including online billing, prescription refills, appointments and lab results, all through an online portal.

Malik reacquired the company, which had changed its name to Intuit Health, in August. In October, Malik changed the name back to Medfusion.

Davenport, a native of North Carolina, is a graduate of East Carolina University where he received undergraduate degree in business as well as an MBA. He most recently worked at Mediquest.