Venture investment in health IT continues to go gangbusters, with a record-setting Q3 seeing more than 150 separate deals that hauled in nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

As federal incentive dollars from HITECH Act start to peter out, private investment in health IT has stepped up to the plate as electronic health record adoption reaches critical mass, according to the new report from Mercom Capital Group. Another contributor to a surge in the market has been the release of healthcare data by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has driven innovation in healthcare apps, officials say.

"Funding into healthcare IT is on pace to double over last year," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, in a press statement. "With major parts of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, the focus is on health insurance exchanges, preventative care, wellness, population health and a general shift from quantity to quality of care, which is reflected in this quarter's funding transactions."

Provider-focused technology companies received $489 million in 59 deals, according to Mercom, with population health, electronic health record, practice management and data analytics companies all gaining funding.

Consumer-focused companies, meanwhile, scored $248 million in 92 deals, with most funding -- $161 million -- going to the mobile health technologies such as apps and sensors.

The top VC funding deal in Q3 2013 went to Evolent Health, a population health management organization that integrates technology, tools and services to support value-based care and payment models, which raised $100 million from The Advisory Board Company, UPMC Health Plan and TPG Growth, according to the Mercom report.

Other top deals in the quarter included:

• Practice Fusion, developer of a free Web-based EHR, which raised $70 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, OrbiMed Advisors, Deerfield Management Company, Industry Ventures, Artis Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Band of Angels Acorn Fund, H Barton Co-Invest Fund and Goldcrest Investments
• MedSynergies, which develops revenue and performance management tools for providers, raised $65 million from undisclosed investors
• Fitbit, a consumer-focused fitness and health tracker company, raised $43 million in private equity financing from Qualcomm Ventures, SAP Ventures, SoftBank Capital, Foundry Group and True Ventures
• Oscar, a health insurance and telemedicine provider, raised $40 million from Thrive, Founders Fund, General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures.

As for mergers and acquisitions, there were 45 transactions worth some $1.1 billion in Q3, according to Mercom, far outpacing a Q2 that saw 30 transactions worth $108 million. Health information management was a hot sector, with 22 transactions, followed by revenue cycle management, with nine acquisitions, and telehealth with four.

The biggest disclosed M&A transaction in the third quarter, including the $644 million merger of EHR and practice management vendor Greenway Medical Technologies – less than two years after it made its IPO – with privately held EHR developer Vitera Healthcare Solutions.

[See also: Health IT VC funding sees 'torrid' Q1]