Delphi Medical Targets Wireless Patient Monitors
Delphi Medical Introduces Clinical Communication
In pursuit of a diversification strategy, Delphi, the auto parts company, created Delphi Medical Systems. Delphi Medical Systems’ coming out party was at Medical Design & Manufacturing East (MD&M) in New York City in June, 2004. They’re going after OEM business and indirect distribution sales into alternate care markets. Their target markets are vital signs monitors, IV pumps, respiratory, and dialysis.
What caught my eye was their offering of wireless connectivity, asset tracking, and remote monitoring, control and alarms. This is rocket science stuff; only a few bleeding edge start-ups are doing these things. (Radianse, Sensitron, )
Here’s their track record to date:
- February 2004, while under the radar, signed $80 million contract mfg deal with Sunrise Medical
- December 2004, acquires medical device mfgr Peak Medical for $44 million (revenue of $72 million)
- December 2004, licenses vital signs technology from Zoe Medical (worldwide rights to manufacture, market, distribute and sell hospital and alternate site vital signs patient monitors)
- December 2004, snagged a $35 million mfg contract from Ophthonix for vision-testing equipment
- January 2005, inked co-development deal with Caretools for PDA-based charting and vital signs monitor/IV pump alarm management and control
This most recent news shows Delphi Medical aiming for a mature replacement market (monitors and pumps) with innovative and (so far) unique features.
The agreement provides exclusive worldwide rights for Delphi Medical Systems to market, sell and distribute software that will facilitate short- and long-range digital communication between a hand-held personal desk assistant and medical devices to enable monitoring of medical devices such as I.V. pumps, vital signs monitors and respiratory devices. With their hand-held PDA or from their PC, health care practitioners will be able to start, stop or alter a patient’s medication delivery or therapy or monitor their vital signs, remotely.
“These software packages will make Delphi Medical Systems the only provider of easy-to-use handheld devices that can monitor and even control from a remote location several different medical devices,” said Christophe Sevrain, Delphi Medical Systems managing director. “The combination of Delphi Medical’s devices with this software application enhancement helps create a cost and time saving solution for health care providers, allowing them to optimize their resources and dedicate them where patients need it most.”
A recently announced licensing agreement with Zoe Medical gave Delphi Medical worldwide rights to manufacture, market, distribute and sell hospital and alternate site vital signs patient monitors worldwide. These monitors measure and provide readings of blood pressure, electrocardiogram, temperature, weight, pulse rate, blood oxygen level and even glucose levels. Additionally, Delphi’s IVantage, an intravenous pump, will also be able to be programmed and monitored from a remote location.
The new software will enable all this patient information to be transmitted directly to a nurse’s station computer [central station surveillance] or a hand-held PDA whether the patient is in a hospital, at home, or at an extended care facility anywhere in the world. This PDA will also feature the existing underlying software capabilities available in the Caretool’s PDA software such as point and click customizable menus for quick note entry and complete electronic medical record system. It may also receive signals from medical devices developed by other companies.
Most interesting. I just hope they don’t forget about those hospital employees at the point of care, you kow, the nurses.
WiFiMed Inc., provider of a tablet-based solution to collect and manage patient medical information, today announced the closing of a $1 million Series A round of funding, the kick-off of a Series B round, and the appointment of Mark Bloomberg, MD, MBA, as chief medical officer, and Anthony DaSilva as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
The funding is supporting the launch of Tablet MD(TM), an integrated, tablet-based solution to manage the physician/patient interaction. Designed to meet physician demands for mobility, affordability, and ease of use, Tablet MD helps manage medical information during the patient visit and improves practice procedures and communications. [BCBS HealthIssues.com]
This is a great example of the continued entrepreneur/VC fascination with automating the physician. Could they pick a tougher market segment? The situation is marked by a disconnectedness. Except for places like Kaiser, Mayo, Scott & White, etc., physicians work for themselves, not the hospital. Consequently hospitals have very limited authority over their physicians with privileges. Teaching hospital staff are a little more controllable, but not much. And where are the benefits of automation? If its a big win for the physician, will physicians pay the cost – not just for the app and hardware, but for the systems integration on the hospital side? And if its a big win for the hospital, what's in it for the doc? Start-ups and hospitals have been banging on this since the late 1980's when hospitals started buying up physician practices, and still there's been very only anecdotal success.
What about the hospital staff on the patient floor for 12 hours a day. The people at the pointy end of the care-delivery stick? Why not invest in developing a product that would improve RN productivity and eliminate the need for a few of those open RN positions they can’t seem to fill? What about improving things at the point of care with hospital employees, and improving outcomes and nursing/patient satisfaction?
The entrepreneurs and VCs are right that there’s a real need to invest in point of care solutions. They’ve just got the wrong market segment. In the hospital, the real win for everybody is the nurse, not the physician.
And don't get me started on tablet PCs…!
