GE (NYSE: GE) announced today it has completed the acquisition of API Healthcare, a healthcare workforce management solutions provider, headquartered in Hartford, WI.
API Healthcare's complementary offerings will expand GE Healthcare's current Hospital Operations Management (HOM) portfolio, which gives hospitals real-time access to operational data. Comprehensively managing the scheduling, flow and availability of staff, patients and assets can help hospitals realize significant productivity gains.
"The GE and API Healthcare systems are such a good fit and perfectly align with GE's Industrial Internet strategy," said Mike Swinford, president and CEO of GE Healthcare Services. "With this acquisition, we are now able to address a significant portion of hospital operating costs - from assets to patient and labor - with a mix of software, real-time data, powerful analytics and professional services."
Long-time customers of both organizations are already realizing operational value.
In 2007, Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York merged with two other area hospitals fighting to stay alive in the changing healthcare environment. Collectively, the hospitals faced millions of dollars in losses and the management needed strong new operational systems to turn around the new 438-bed entity with 3,400 employees, now called Ellis Medicine.
"Data at our fingertips was critical to our ultimate success in delivering efficiencies across the three hospitals - in patient care, in wait times and in patient and staff satisfaction," said Paul Milton, chief operating officer of Ellis Medicine. "Bringing together the API Healthcare and GE solutions through this acquisition will continue to help Ellis and other hospitals across the industry to maintain complete transparency while creating accountability across the entire organization, at every level."
Ellis Medicine deployed GE's AgileTrac system in 2010 to track both assets and patient flow, which helped Ellis tag and track IV pumps and other clinical equipment, improve workflow, and save $1.1 million over three years. The hospital also rolled out a separate workforce management system developed by API Healthcare in 2011, which allowed management and employees to track everything from staffing data and real-time nurse to patient ratios to payroll and overtime. In just one six-month period, the hospital cut overtime costs by more than 25%, or $720,000, compared to the same period prior to deploying the new systems.
This acquisition furthers GE Healthcare commitment to offer customers integrated solutions to better deliver on their operational commitments.
