Let’s start by saying the health care system has some serious problems.
It’s underfunded, understaffed and the nurses and doctors working under these circumstances should be wearing capes and be awarded medals for the work they do, and even then they are still constantly swimming upstream in terms of workload.
A large chunk of the heavy swimming comes from wasteful, inefficient hospital practices.
Ali Wakerley is a registered nurse working for Vancouver General Hospital.
Here is how she starts her day:
“I look at what we call a Kardex, which gives me a two page summary of everything that’s been going on with my patient. Then I look at any care plans that exist, for example, the patient has an epic bed sore, or is on tube feeds, etc. Then I go take vitals and do my assessments, all which are charted on several different sheets of paper (vital signs, general assessment, any tubes/drains, fluid balance, skin and wound, any IV sites are the usual ones, plus others).”
That’s a lot of misspent time doing paperwork.
Companies like Vitalhub (VHI.V) are working to smooth these inefficiencies out so healthcare practitioners can get back to the business of saving lives.
VitalHub’s portfolio consists of blockchain-enabled logistical software designed to streamline the hospital supply chain, consolidating patient care records and other logistical avenues into one device.
The company added another layer of customer support with its recent acquisition of The Oak Group and its proprietary clinical utilization review software solution, Making Care Appropriate for Patients (MCAP).
“Using the combination of artificial intelligence and proven evidence-based clinical guidelines to determine the appropriate care setting of a patient solves a systemic patient flow issue for all health care providers. Many members of the Vitalhub team have experience in the patient flow market and look forward to the re-entry into this market,” said Dan Matlow, CEO of VitalHub.
Let’s examine this problem in an everyday hospital setting.
One of the major consequences of inadequate patient flow is the development of queues.
According to Analytics Magazine, there are three major causes of queues in hospitals:
- Idle capacity due to a failure to synchronize complementary resources. For example, making sure there’s an X-ray tech present on the day when a patient needs an X-ray.
- Inadequate communication to ensure downstream departments are prepared to receive patients from upstream departments and to ensure that all parties are prepared for foreseeable demand. For example: No patients left waiting in the hallway for hours because their rooms aren’t ready, because someone failed to inform housekeeping that the previous patient had been discharged.
- Inefficient processes that require more work than necessary or un-needed repetition of work. For example, nurses who spend time gathering together medication for their patients and then discover that the nurse they took over for has already given them their medication and failed to mark that on the chart.
The MCAP Clinical Utilization Review software would change all that by revealing the reasons behind patient flow roadblocks, giving clinical teams the necessary data to make informed decisions to fix them.
By efficiently allocating resources, medical care professionals will be able to improve patient care and reduce inappropriate discharges.
The Oak Group’s MCAP program has already enjoyed some success in the field.
MCAP is used daily in 22 hospitals all over the U.K. and the Middle East, representing over 10,000 hospital beds. The Oak Group completed 200 patient flow performance reviews across five different countries using MCAP.
The Oak Group had $751,000 in yearly recurring revenue as of January 2019, representing a 74% gross margin.
“We believe our proven clinical criteria and AI software solution is unique to market and has proven itself so across five different countries. Combining forces with Vitalhub’s ability to commercialize what he has created will take the product to new levels,” said Dr. David Maltz, The Oak Group co-founder.
The $1.68 million acquisition was a combination of $751,000 in cash and 4,032,682 common shares at $0.22 worth $887,190.12.
The Oak Group will receive 20% of the shares on closing with the remaining to be released to the company in four semi-annual installments over the next two years.
“The acquisition of the Oak Group and the MCAP clinical criteria gives Vitalhub an industry-proven solution that has the potential to grow organically on an international scale,” said Matlow.
Sounds like a good deal for everyone involved.
The closing date for the acquisition is anticipated to be March 15, 2019.
Right now, the company is trading at $0.205 with 154,899,979 shares issued and outstanding and a value of $32,529,000.
–Joseph Morton
Full disclosure: Vitalhub is an Equity.Guru marketing client.