Philips acquires Forcare, a provider of software for exchanging data between medical systems, among other things. It is Philips' fourth healthcare-related acquisition this year.
Forcare is a company that provides interoperability software that unlocks patient data from different information sources. The software allows existing hospital systems to be connected so that information from different systems can be combined. The software is based on open standards and suitable for a variety of medical images and documents.
Facilitating collaboration between healthcare specialists
Forcare also provides solutions that improve and facilitate collaboration between healthcare professionals. On its website, the company reports that healthcare is becoming increasingly specialised. As a result, medical specialists are increasingly working together not only with colleagues in their own institution, but also with external specialists. Exchanging patient information plays an important role in this. Forcare provides solutions that help exchange patient information in a safe and reliable way.
The acquisition of Forcare gives Philips technology that will allow it to more closely integrate its own medical solutions and devices. "The global increase in hospital consolidations and large regional projects are generating significantly larger tenders that inevitably require interoperability," explains Yair Birman, business leader Healthcare Informatics at Philips. "The acquisition of Forcare gives us access to expertise in critical standards and interoperability for connecting healthcare information systems, sharing and exchanging clinical data, and delivering secure and reliable access to digital healthcare information for healthcare staff and patients across organisations and healthcare facilities."
Forcare is a company founded in 2006 with around 70 employees. Headquartered in Zeist, Forcare also has offices in Germany, the UK and Canada. Philips says Forcare's solutions are used by hospitals worldwide.
TOMTEC Imaging systems
The acquisition of Forcare is the fourth healthcare-related acquisition by Philips this year. The company acquired TOMTEC Imaging Systems in July. This German company that specialises in intelligent analysis software for medical images. The company focuses specifically on medical images created using ultrasound diagnostic equipment. Think of the ultrasound-based ultrasound systems that Philips has been supplying for some time. Philips expects to strengthen its position in cardiovascular ultrasound applications thanks to the acquisition of TOMTEC.
Spectranetics
Philips also acquired Spectranetics in August, a US company specialising in solutions for vascular surgery and managing data generated by 'Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices' (CIEDs), a collective name for implantable devices such as pacemakers or defibrillators.
Philips plans to combine Spectranetics' products with its own imaging systems, devices, software and services. This combination should enable cardiologists and vascular doctors to better determine the right treatment for cardiovascular diseases.
Analytical Informatics
Finally, the Dutch multinational acquired Analytical Informatics in November. This US start-up provides vendor-neutral workflow tools and applications, among other things. Philips plans to integrate Analytical Informatics' solutions into its PerformanceBridge portfolio, with which Philips supports hospital radiology departments with operational tasks. These include managing the availability of medical equipment and employees, as well as compliance and equipment uptime.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Philips
Source: Forcare
Source photo: Pixabay / valelopardo
