Rockville, Maryland-based DrFirst, which provides healthcare SaaS offerings ranging from medication management to clinical communications, has acquired clinical trial recruitment provider VisibilityRx. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The aim of the acquisition is to offer VisibilityRx’s patient identification, recruitment and communication capabilities to DrFirst’s 60,000 physician clients.

DrFirst also works with hospitals and EHR and EMR vendors, and offers electronic prescription using the company's SmartSuite predictive analytics software, secure messaging platforms, and patient management dashboards.

VisibilityRx works with pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient recruitment centers, clinical and market research companies, and it leverages existing relationships consumers have with retail pharmacies to match them with relevant clinical trials.

"Coordinated communications at the point of care and throughout the patient's prescription experience are essential in the patient care process," VisibilityRx President Joe Rector said in a statement. "An additional benefit of VisibilityRx is that it provides DrFirst's life sciences partners new points of engagement during the patient's prescription lifetime, enabling them to reinforce critical information with patients.”

The combined capabilities of DrFirst and VisibilityRx will also help researchers manage the high costs of clinical trials through advanced patient matching, which will give providers information at the point of encounter to speed of the trial enrollment process.

"We are excited to welcome VisibilityRx to the DrFirst family and create new opportunities to advance patient participation in the clinical trial process," G. Cameron Deemer, president of DrFirst, said in a statement. "The acquisition delivers an existing client base and experienced management and provides us with a comprehensive solution that addresses a need for so many patients, physicians, pharmacies and clinical research organizations.”