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Mobile communications company Vocera announced it has acquired alarm management company mVisum for $3.5 million in an effort to enhance the firm’s health communications portfolio.
mVisum’s alarm presentation technology acts as a secondary alarm notification system and provides clinical context, including waveforms, such as ECGs, and vital signs, offering decision support and insight into the criticality of every alarm.
The medical device alarm management platform helps reduce “alarm fatigue” by offering an alarm notification system with audio-visual cues to clinicians through smartphones and other devices.
The software has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a Class II medical device, and mVisum is also compliant with the FDA’s new requirements for mobile medical apps.
“The acquisition of mVisum is another step in our strategic roadmap to solve one of health care’s biggest challenges: communication,” Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera, said in a statement. “Communication breakdowns caused by alarm fatigue have become a top patient safety concern and a regulatory priority. mVisum’s alarm management technology instantly delivers data to clinical decision makers and complements our secure, mobile communication solutions to help improve patient care, safety and satisfaction.”
The Alert Alarm Management System uses push notification technology to connect with and distribute data from almost any hospital alarm-generating device. Configurable dashboards allow users to monitor alarms and alarm responses at the floor, nurse and individual bed levels.
Vocera said plans to include the mVisum platform in its broad portfolio of integrated, intelligent communication solutions that are already sold into over 850 healthcare customers worldwide.
“We are thrilled to be joining Vocera, the recognized leader in the mobile, clinical communications market,” Praveen Dala, CEO of mVisum, said in a statement. “The strategic vision of both companies is to improve and streamline communications in hospitals and healthcare systems and we are excited by the impact that our combined technology portfolios and talent will have on our customers.”
In addition, mVisum’s suite of connected care solutions delivers patient details to physicians and specialists automatically–anytime, anywhere, on a wide selection of smart devices.
The mVisum transaction is an asset purchase and closed on Jan. 13. Vocera said it expects nominal incremental revenue this year, and for the transaction to be slightly dilutive to 2014 earnings. As revenue ramps in 2015, the company expects it to become accretive to earnings, a company statement said.