San Diego’s PatientSafe Solutions, which developed a handheld smart device to improve nursing care, says today it has raised $20 million in a Series C round of financing led by the Merck Global Health Innovation fund. Existing investors TPG Capital, Camden Partners, and Psilos Group joined in the round.
PatientSafe introduced its flagship health IT product, the wireless “PatientTouch” device, in 2011. The extensively modified Apple iTouch is intended to help nurses manage their clinical care workflow, guide patient care, coordinate tasks, and communicate with healthcare providers (using a hospital’s Wi-Fi network for text messaging or Internet-based calls). The device uses a barcode scanner to positively identify patients, and PatientSafe has developed integrated applications that make it easier to collect and record patient vital signs and other data.
In a statement today, PatientSafe says proceeds from the financing will be used to drive market adoption of its flagship product by hospitals and health systems. The company also plans to introduce other products designed to help hospitals reduce their costs and make better use of value-based purchasing programs. Among other things, PatientSafe says its future mobile products would help hospitals adopt electronic health records (EHR) systems that satisfy federal guidelines for “meaningful use” of health IT technologies, enabling facilities to earn federal incentive bonuses and avoid future penalties.
PatientSafe executives told me in 2011 the company had raised a total of $73 million since 2002, when the company was founded as IntelliDot. James Sweeney, who joined in 2009 to help overhaul the startup’s initial strategy, stepped down as CEO nearly a year ago, when former COO Joe Condurso was named president and CEO.
In the company’s statement, Condurso says, “This Series C round is an affirmation of our vision and strategy to move healthcare forward by arming providers with real-time actionable data and making care team workflows easier and more productive.”
PatientSafe also said Max Kahn, an investment principal at Merck Global Health Innovation, joined its board of directors.