A Diagnostics & Imaging Week
USTeleradiology (UST; Atlanta), a provider of offsite radiology services, reported that it has acquired University Nighthawk Partners (UNP; Roysford, Pennsylvania). UNP, also known as Nighthawk Pros, provides after-hours preliminary reports to hospitals throughout the U.S.
UST said this acquisition will allow it to leverage Nighthawk Pros' physicians, licenses, technology and workflow processes against its current Teleradiology Center-based platform.
UST said the acquisition, along with its launch of USTeleMammography (Atlanta), in 2006 of which USTeleradiology owns a majority interest will take the company's projected annual revenue into the $11 million-$12 million range for 2008.
Together, these entities serve close to 100 facilities across the U.S., with a combined daily volume in the 750-900 study range, UST said.
UNP will continue to be headed by its founding physician and CEO, Maheep Goyal, MD.
UST said the three entities will initially operate separately with some shared management and operations, to take advantage of their individual strengths, achieving economies of scale and eliminating costly redundancies. The entities will converge on certain accounts where any combination of nighttime preliminary reports, daytime final reads, mammography services, and/or QA services are simultaneously required, the company said.
In other dealmaking news:
• LifeSync, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMP (both Fort Lauderdale, Florida), reported that it has entered into a non-exclusive sublicense with Triage Wireless (San Diego) for LifeSync's patent portfolio associated with the digital, wireless communication of patient vital signs.
This sublicense will allow Triage the right to utilize LifeSync's technologies in connection with patient-worn multi-parameter monitors and associated bedside or mobile displays.
LifeSync has developed and commercialized a wireless ECG data communication system for use in medical facilities under an exclusive license agreement from Motorola (Schaumburg, Illinois).
LifeSync said it intends to grant sublicenses for this intellectual property to third parties for other uses that it does not intend to internally develop and commercialize.
• The Tri-Isthmus Group (TIGroup; Beverly Hills, California), a provider of financial solutions to the healthcare industry, has agreed to acquire Southern Plains Medical Group (Southern Plains, Oklahoma).
The center includes 21 physicians and offers a range of services including cardiology, pediatrics, oncology, orthopedics, radiology and urgent care.
The physician group from Southern Plains will continue to manage the new operation, supported by the Physician's Hospital of Anadarko, TIGroup's locally owned hospital and medical clinic. TIGroup also will provide financial and operating support to Southern Plains and will introduce expanded diagnostic and dialysis services to the community in addition to making new local investments in the region's healthcare infrastructure.
• Global Med Technologies (Lakewood, Colorado), an international e-health medical information technology company, reported that its Wyndgate Technologies division has signed an agreement to license its SafeTrace donor management system to St. Joseph's Healthcare System (Paterson, New Jersey). SafeTrace will be used to monitor blood donations for St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center's blood bank. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
St. Joseph's said Wyndgate's SafeTrace system will help it manage the volume of information needed to successfully administer a large healthcare system's blood bank, including donor scheduling, blood product manufacturing and infectious disease testing.
• Signalife (Greenville, South Carolina) reported that its contract manufacturer, Ventrex (Ventura, California), acquired by the Hi-Tech Group (Anaheim, California) in September 2007, has been acquired by Parker Hannifin (Cleveland) as part of Parker Hannifin's strategic entry into the device manufacturing industry.
"We have a great business relationship with HTG-Ventrex and are glad that they are now part of the Medical Systems Division of Parker's Seal Group," said Dr. Budimir Drakulic, Signalife's chief technology officer.
Signalife is a life sciences company focused on the monitoring, detection and prevention of disease through continuous biomedical signal monitoring. Signalife uses its signal technology to develop devices, therapies and/or technologies that are designed to simplify and reduce the costs of cardiovascular disease.