Netherlands-based Wolters Kluwer, which offers clinical reference information products like medical apps to students and professionals in the medical field, plans to expand its digital health division in India, according to Business Standard.
Many healthcare systems across a number of Indian cities already use one of Wolters Kluwer's most popular tools, a reference app called UpToDate. These providers include AIIMS, Ganga Ram Hospital, MAX Hospital, KMC, Tata Memorial hospital, CMC Vellore, and G.S Seth medical College. The app is almost one of the most popular medical apps for medical professionals in the US.
The company plans to develop more smartphone-based offerings for its Indian market with an emphasis on evidence-based medicine.
"In India we will be expanding in the digital health segment and acquire assets which will help us expand in this direction," Wolters Kluwer India CEO Shireesh Sahai told Business Standard. "We will target hospitals in tier-II and III cities and showcase our products and explain need for them to adopt such software and applications."
In the last 10 years, Wolters Kluwer spent $900 million on acquisitions, Corinne Saunders, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Emerging and Developing Markets said. And moving forward, the company aims to focus more of that money on emerging markets.
Wolters Kluwer's UpToDate is used by more than 1 million healthcare professionals in over 30,000 institutions in 174 countries, according to the company's website.
The company has been focused on acquiring mobile-based tools for a number of years now. In 2011, Wolters Kluwer Health announced plans to acquire another big name in mobile medical reference: Lexi-Comp. Wolters Kluwer described the deal as “the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions” for its clinical solutions business, which focuses on point of care services.