Thursday, December 22, 2011

Alere Acquires MAS; Enhances its Diagnostic IT Offering

The trend of in vitro diagnostic companies fortifying their information managment system profile continues, as more and more hospitals need lab systems that can report to an EMR.     News this month that Charlottesville-based Medical Automation Systems (MAS), a major provider of information management systems for point-of-care testing, has been acquired by Massachusetts-based Alere Inc.
 In 2010, Abbot acquired Starlims Technologies for 123 million dollars.   The companies software was already used by more than 500 labs.

Kalorama Information expects a $850 million dollar market for Lab Information Systems.  Kalorama Information's report on Laboratory Information Systems contains breakdowns of the market for LIS products by hardware and software, and discusses the major players and trends in the industry.  The report can be found on its website.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Arizona Hospital Sends Patients Home Early, With a Droid Phone

As noted in Fierce Healthcare , Flagstaff Medical Center is releasing patients with heart failure and providing them with a smartphone.  The program uses advanced 3G wireless technology and health-monitoring devices to enhance the care of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) or other related conditions.  Zephyr Technology and Verizon Wireless are partners in this effort.

FH notes that each of Flagstaff's monitoring kits include: 3G-enabled Motorola Droid X2 smart phone with a mobile application that allows patients to rapidly record and send information to the medical center via a secure Internet portal; an oxygen and pulse monitor; blood pressure cuff; and weight scale. Additional items in the kit may include an advanced Zephyr health-monitoring system to measure other vital signs such as breathing rate, skin temperature, activity and posture.

We expect programs like these to become routine.  Kalorama Information has reported on these type of applications and the growth of handheld devices in heatlhcare in its <i>Handhelds in Healthcare</i> Report.  The report includes profiles of relevant companies.