Healthcare >> CEO Interviews >> February 17, 2000
DAVID A. COHEN is Chairman and CEO of MedQuist Inc. A respected industry
leader, visionary and expert in the medical transcription and healthcare
information management fields, Mr. Cohen joined Transcriptions, Ltd. in
1973. Since then, he has grown the company from a handful of employees
in two offices to the leading medical transcription company in the
United States. In 1980, Mr. Cohen became CEO of Transcriptions, Ltd.
After selling Transcriptions, Ltd. to MedQuist Inc. in May 1994, Mr.
Cohen remained as President of the Transcription, Ltd. subsidiary. The
MedQuist Board of Directors recognized Mr. Cohen's leadership abilities
and promoted him to President and CEO of the parent company in November
1995. Subsequent to assuming the CEO position, Mr. Cohen immediately
lead a restructuring of MedQuist, which included spinning off its non-
transcription businesses in December 1995 and using the proceeds to pay
down a portion of the company's debt. With an improved balance sheet and
an operating focused exclusively on medical transcription, the company
was positioned to raise additional capital in a secondary public
offering. In 1996, the Board again recognized Mr. Cohen, asking him to
assume the additional responsibilities of Chairman. Since then under Mr.
Cohen's leadership, the company has been realizing steady growth of
approximately 33% each year, with 1999 revenues expected to reach $350
million. Mr. Cohen also directed the company's market capitalization
from $20 million when he took over to $1.12 billion in 1999. In 1997,
Mr. Cohen was the recipient of the regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur
of the Year award in the healthcare division, and in 1998 he won his
second regional award in the Master Entrepreneur division. Today, under
Mr. Cohen's direction, MedQuist boasts 90+ service centers nationwide,
1,000 support staff and more than 8,000 trained transcriptionists. Mr.
Cohen and his wife reside in Philadelphia and have two daughters and six
grandchildren. A graduate of Temple University with a degree in Business
Administration, Mr. Cohen is also a board member of SmartMed, a Florida-
based private healthcare company. Profile
Mr. Cohen: The current business as we know it was founded in 1970 in
East Brunswick, New Jersey. It was called Transcriptions
