HealthInterlink's Beacon 2.0
Skaneateles Falls, New York-based medical device company Welch Allyn acquired the assets of Omaha, Nebraska-based remote patient monitoring company HealthInterlink.
“The acquisition of HealthInterlink’s assets is exciting news for Welch Allyn and is in keeping with our vision to help transform care wherever patients and healthcare professionals connect,” Welch Allyn CEO and President Stephen Meyer said in a statement. “As healthcare delivery becomes decentralized and extends beyond the traditional acute and ambulatory care locations where our offerings are used today, we intend to provide solutions that enable providers to deliver high quality care, regardless of location.”
HealthInterlink received FDA 510(k) clearance for Beacon 2.0, a mobile-centric software system that integrates data from various home health devices, in March. Beacon was previously cleared as a class I medical device (MDDS).
Until HealthInterlink products are integrated into Welch Allyn, they will continue to be sold and sourced by HealthInterlink's team.
Beacon 2.0 works on tablets, smartphones, and for other mobiles via texting. The system integrates with patients’ connected medical devices including blood pressure cuffs, spectrometers, thermometers, pulse oximeters, glucometers, and weight scales. This information is then sent through HealthInterlink’s server to a healthcare provider’s tablet, laptop, or desktop.
“This acquisition will enable us to help clinicians prioritize patient care, allowing for early intervention and facilitating communication with patients outside traditional healthcare settings,” Meyer added. “Furthermore, we believe that this represents an exciting opportunity to advance the trend of investing in non-hospitalized and post-acute care monitoring to help take cost out of the system and help patients adhere to treatment plans — in the doctor’s office and beyond.”
HealthInterlink's products are not Welch Allyn's first digitally connected tools. In January 2013, the FDA cleared Welch Allyn’s iPhone-enabled ophthalmoscope, which allows doctors to use the iPhone camera to take photographs of the interior surface of the eye. The tool, called iExaminer System, built on the company’s existing PanOptic Ophthalmoscope, a device that lets a physician see into the back of a patient’s eye.
