In addition to the patient monitoring solutions and associated clinical information systems, Nihon Kohden has already expanded its clinical offering by adding its own ventilator to the product portfolio in 2019, enhancing its ability to provide a more complete solution offering in the clinical care space. The integration and development of algorithms to ensure patient safety into its wider lineup will help strengthen its position further.
Although the acquisition has occurred at the U.S. subsidiary, it is expected that the technology developed through this acquisition will also expand to other regions, helping Nihon Kohden to further compete with other patient monitor powerhouses such as Philips, GE and Mindray.
What are other vendors doing? Since the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalisation has been driven forward and increased the appetite from clinicians for more information to support patient care. Many vendors have taken note of the interest and further developed solutions that enable a fully integrated patient pathway and analytical tools to support care provision. Subsequently, there has been a flurry of activity within the patient monitoring market, with each major player enhancing their offering to ensure optimal care provision. Of note:
Philips Philips has made several acquisitions in the last few years. Most recently, its announcement of the acquisition of Capsule Technologies in January 2021 piqued many competing vendors' interest. Capsule is a leading brand in device integration enabling seamless connection between devices and associated IT systems, including analytics solutions through a vendor-neutral system, to streamline device and data integration into the medical health record. The deal will enable Philips to not only tap into Capsule’s device integration capabilities, but also the vital signs monitoring, and clinical surveillance service solutions that Capsule offers. Philips has since announced its launch of the HealthSuite System of Engagement, an attempt to connect information from different systems to enable a collaborative platform providing actionable patient insights. This move has given Philips a clear position in its strategic approach toward a truly digital patient pathway providing the necessary tools to improve patient care.
GE Healthcare In 2019, GE Healthcare announced that it was investing into Decisio Health, a Houston, Texas-based software company that specializes in clinical surveillance. The solutions from Decisio Health enable real-time patient information to aid in decision making. Since the investment, GE Healthcare has incorporated Decisio’s DECISIOInsight® into its Mural virtual care solution which provides supporting clinical information to help prioritise patient care. Like Philips, GE Healthcare is utilising the Mural solution to enable a transformation of data for analytics that enable more informed patient care.
