Athenahealth, a Watertown, Mass.-based provider of EHR cloud-based software, has announced it has acquired Epocrates, a San Mateo, Calif. Based provider of mobile health (mHealth) point-of-care clinical applications.  The deal is valued at $11.75 per share, in cash, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $293 million, and it’s athenahealth’s biggest ever.

“I have been an admirer of Epocrates since it first emerged and have watched the company grow consistently, one app download at a time, as it has cemented itself into the consciousness of America’s physicians,” Jonathan Bush, president and CEO of athenahealth, said in a statement. “No other company has been able to replicate the brand awareness, familiarity, and trust that Epocrates has across the clinical mobile user base.”

Athenahealth says it plans on integrating its cloud-based network with Epocrates’ “expertise” in mHealth to position itself to “introduce new mobile applications” Also, it says it will expand its current provider base of 38,000 to include the reported one million plus healthcare professionals on the Epocrates network.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to the approval of Epocrates shareholders and other customary closing conditions and is expected to occur early in the second quarter of 2013.