Australian healthcare technology company Beamtree, formerly known as Pacific Knowledge Systems, has announced the acquisition of healthcare analytics firm Ainsoff for A$1 million ($725,000).

The company also announced the appointment of international health service leader Dr Mark Britnell as chair of its new advisory board.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

According to a press release, the company will absorb three ready-for-market software applications developed by Ainsoff: a software that can detect patient deterioration well in advance of traditional metrics without any interference to workflows; a natural language processing software that improves clinical documentation and finds missed diagnoses in real-time; and a system that sends out clinical alerts for hospital staff.

As part of the acquisition, Ainsoff's founders Dr Levi Bassin and Dr David Bell will join Beamtree as its senior technical and clinical advisors.

WHY IT MATTERS

According to Beamtree, the Ainsoff software applications can help hospitals improve safety and service quality while enabling financial efficiency of their services. The company forecasts a total addressable market of more than A$200 million ($145 million).

Dr Britnell, who is Vice Chairman and Global Healthcare Expert at KPMG, was a leading contender to become NHS England's chief executive this year. The position was assumed by Amanda Pritchard, who formerly served as the health system's COO.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Beamtree formally changed its name from Pacific Knowledge Systems Holdings on 17 August following shareholders' approval. The company says its new name reflects its mission to use data to "illuminate pathways to better healthcare outcomes".

On Wednesday, the company disclosed its partnership with the University of Sydney to establish a global centre of excellence in health data research that will develop next-generation data tools and applications.

The five-year collaboration will see the first senior academic appointment in clinical informatics in Australia. Research and results from this partnership will be supporting the ongoing development of the Beamtree Insights platform and global benchmarking services.

Beamtree pledged to provide yearly assistance of A$250,000 ($181,000) to cover costs associated with the position. An international candidate search for the post will begin on 1 September.

The company also reported its strongest revenue performance to date with 109% growth to A$8.9 million ($6.45 million) for the financial year ending 30 June 2021

ON THE RECORD

"Ainsoff has designed world-class AI applications that have the capacity to transform the management of the most seriously ill patients in hospital and the quality and costs of clinical process in hospitals. This is a milestone for us as we look to serve the needs of health systems to continuously improve outcomes of patients," Beamtree CEO Tim Kelsey said.

"We are clinicians who have designed services we know meet the key needs of our colleagues in Australia and around the world. We have dedicated ourselves to the urgency of putting technology to work for patients and particularly the most vulnerable," said Dr Bassin.

"Beamtree is a well-established leader in data analytics and AI decision support, and we look forward to a future in which we can play our part to support the future of medicine," Dr Bell also commented.