Developer of hospital tech bought

Fort Wayne software company acquired for $55 million cash

By Lisa Green | The Journal Gazette

Vocera Communications Inc. has acquired Fort Wayne-based Extension Healthcare for about $55 million in an all-cash transaction, the company announced Thursday.

Extension Healthcare provides clinical, event-driven communication and workflow collaboration software for the hospital environment.

Founded in 2009, the company is known for its clinical integration software solution Engage, which features an advanced clinical rules engine that unifies data from multiple sources, enables prioritization of notifications, adds patient context, and sends messages to care team members on their mobile devices. That allows clinicians to be away from the bedside while staying informed about patients. 

Vocera, based in San Jose, California, offers secure, integrated communication systems. That includes through hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging and patient engagement tools.

“This acquisition extends the power of Vocera’s software platform for hospitals and health systems seeking one partner for all of their care team collaboration, workflow and communication needs,” Brent Lang, president and CEO of Vocera, said in a news release.

Todd Plesko, co-founder and CEO of Extension Healthcare, said it’s inspiring to be part of health care’s next generation of technology.

Vocera and Extension Healthcare have collaborated many times and share more than 40 hospital customers across the U.S., including several medical centers within the Veterans Health Administration.

The announcement came the same day that Vocera reported third-quarter earnings. The company said it had total revenue of $33.8 million, an increase of 28 percent compared to revenue of $26.5 million in the same period a year ago.