VitalHub, a software company offering EHR and workforce automation solutions, has announced its acquisition of Buddy Healthcare, a Finnish-based care coordination platform, for €8.3 million.
The Buddy Healthcare platform is said to digitise specialised care pathways, reportedly working to replace paper notes and unnecessary visits with automated guidance to free-up hospital resources. It consists of a web-based app for healthcare professionals and a mobile patient-facing app.
The acquisition fills a gap in VitalHub’s existing patient flow suite, the company explains, and offers the chance to accelerate Buddy Healthcare’s UK growth through VitalHub’s existing customer relationships and commercial infrastructure. It represents a “highly strategic addition”, according to VitalHub CEO Dan Matlow, establishing a strong foundation in the Nordic region and strengthening patient flow and engagement capabilities internationally.
“We have known Buddy Healthcare for a long time and have been impressed by the team’s solution and ability to help hospitals digitise and automate complex care digital pathways across over 23 specialties, improving patient engagement while reducing administrative burden for clinicians,” Matlow acknowledged. “The solution is registered as a medical device solution further evidencing its complex workflows in the solution.”
Jussi Määttä, CEO of Buddy Healthcare, also took to LinkedIn to welcome news of the acquisition, calling it a “proud moment”. He added: “Joining VitalHub means we can now serve our customers with wider shoulders. We gain global exposure to hospitals and health systems, giving us the scale and reach to support our customers even better, while staying true to what got us here.”
Wider trend: Health tech acquisitions
Doctor Care Anywhere has announced its acquisition of Outcome Diagnostics Limited and Medic Spot Limited for £850,000, with the aim of expanding GLP-1 capabilities and cross-selling opportunities in. the UK market. According to Doctor Care Anywhere, the acquisition marks an “important step” in the company’s growth plan, offering an immediate presence in the UK weight management industry and a platform for direct-to-consumer services to be expanded in the region.
European AI and digital health company Doctolib, has announced an investment into Medicus with commitments of over £100 million, to hire 150 people and establish a full R&D centre in London. “Doctolib and Medicus will build on the strong product, team and understanding of NHS primary care that Medicus has built, while bringing Doctolib’s AI and technological expertise and track record with more than 40,000 GPs in Europe,” Doctolib stated in the announcement.
Lantum has acquired Doctors Rostering System from Skills for Health, launching InCheck with new features including an app for clinician exception reporting and a modernised user experience. Doctors Rostering System has previously been used to support trusts in calculating resident doctor pay and contractual compliance, with reporting capabilities helping meet requirements such as those outlined in the Resident Doctor’s Ten Point Plan. Now, new functionality in compliance automation and real-time validation, as well as interoperability with NHS systems, makes InCheck part of Lantum’s upgraded product suite.
