The excitement is evident in Steve Malik’s voice as he talks about his return to a company he founded 13 years ago and sold.

The Raleigh entrepreneur sold Medfusion to Intuit for $91 million three years ago. But when Intuit decided to sell the business, Malik decided within the last two weeks to buy Intuit Health rather than purse other opportunities as an investor.

He’s back – and is he ever motivated.

“I’m amped,” he told WRALTechWire in an interview early Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Malik and Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) disclosed that he had bought the company back. Its focus is electronic health records. Last month, Intuit had said it would sell the health group as part of a reorganization.

Malik’s decision to buy back the company, which is headquartered in Cary, stunned his former employees. He had left Intuit Health in June to launch a career as an investor and mentor and just last month told WRALTechWire that he would not be interesting in reacquiring the firm because of his interest in finding other startups. But at a company-wide meeting on Tuesday, Malik was introduced as the new owner.

“Frankly, that was the first question I answered for the team,” Malik said as incredulous workers – many of whom he had hired – asked why he decided to buy the business.

“As I got out and looked at the other opportunities available, I felt this was the best opportunity. … I looked at a lot of great opportunities, and right there in front of me was one in which I already had had a lot of success in.”

Malik is especially excited about opportunities in mobile applications for health-related services. Intuit Health offers its own apps at iTunes and Google Play, but Malik says he envisions using Intuit Health as a “platform” to enable other app developers connect with customers.

With more than 8 million patients and thousands of doctors using Intuit Health, Malik says his company can help emerging companies overcome their biggest obstacle: Distribution.

Intuit’s Decision

In its quarterly earnings report, Intuit noted that it had completed the “divestiture” of Intuit Health on Monday, and Malik confirmed that the deal had in fact closed.

However, he is not talking about the financial details other than to say that he is the “100 percent owner” at this time. Malik also said that there were other bidders for the company.

Intuit had decided to divest itself of its financial services and health business units as part of a strategy to focus on its core accounting and tax services.

“Just this past month, we sold Intuit Financial Services and the Intuit Health Group, two businesses that no longer aligned with our go-forward strategy,” Intuit CEO Brad Smith said in a conference call.

“These organizational changes have transformed Intuit from a portfolio of businesses into an ecosystem that builds durable competitive advantage by working together,” he added.

Intuit is based in California. 

“Medfusion was founded with the vision of having patients interact with their doctors more effectively and more efficiently online,” Malik said in a statement about the deal. “Thirteen years later, it’s gratifying to see that the government has mandated patient electronic access, and Intuit Health’s extensive experience in this realm and broad, loyal customer base position us well for continued growth. I look forward to working with the new company’s leadership team as we continue to facilitate more effective engagement between doctors and patients.”

Malik negotiated with Intuit an agreement to permit continued use of the Intuit Health name until a new one can be chosen.

He also said he anticipated no layoffs although he noted that in “any transition” some employees can be expected to leave.

Intuit Health employs some 150 people with around 120 based in Cary. When Malik sold Medfusion the company had 100 workers.