General Electric has announced it has agreed to acquire Hartford-based API Healthcare.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2014. Financial terms are not being disclosed.
API Healthcare is a healthcare-specific vendor focused on workforce management software and analytics. GE said API Healthcare’s product offerings will expand GE Healthcare’s Hospital Operations Management portfolio, giving hospitals real-time access to operational data. GE Healthcare’s North American headquarters is in Wauwatosa.
“Labor costs represent over 50 percent of hospital operating budgets,” said Michael Swinford, president and chief executive officer, GE Healthcare Services. “With this acquisition, GE Healthcare will be able to address a significant portion of hospital operations costs – assets, patients and labor – with a mix of software, real-time data, powerful analytics and professional services.”
API Healthcare’s solutions – staffing and scheduling, patient classification, human resources, talent management, payroll, time and attendance, business analytics, and staffing agency offerings – are used by more than 1,600 hospitals and staffing agencies in the U.S.
“Health care productivity is more important than ever for hospitals as more patients enter the system and operational costs continue to climb,” said John Dineen, president and chief executive officer, GE Healthcare. “In addition to clinical systems, hospitals need operational management systems to drive enterprise-wide efficiencies, reduce unnecessary costs and enable improved patient care. Over the next 5-7 years, we believe sales of these systems will accelerate towards double-digit growth and GE Healthcare will lead the way.”
With this acquisition, GE Healthcare said it will work with hospitals and health systems in three key areas:
- Asset Optimization: Manage and track the utilization of assets throughout their lifecycle, helping to lower costs and improve efficiency.
- Patient Flow Optimization: Manage and track patients and workflow from admission to discharge in real-time, lowering costs and increasing transparency.
- Workforce Optimization: With the addition of API, enable better insight into staffing and scheduling to help ensure the right staff member is assigned the right patient at the right time.
Once the transaction closes, GE said, the API Healthcare solutions will be part of the Predicitivity Industrial Internet portfolio alongside GE Healthcare’s existing HOM offerings.
“This acquisition will bring API Healthcare’s complementary offerings together with one of the world’s leading healthcare companies to help customers make data-driven decisions on staffing and operations,” said J.P. Fingado, president and chief executive officer, API Healthcare. “As the demands of an aging population increase and the greater challenges associated with a changing workforce take hold, operational efficiency has never been more important. We are excited to expand our capabilities and address customers’ toughest challenges together with GE.”
Fingado received a BizTimes Bravo! Entrepreneur Award in 2013. Since 2008, Fingado has grown the company from 600 clients to more than 1600 and has more than doubled the company’s revenue. In addition, API has opened offices in San Diego and Dallas.
