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Nuance Announces Plans to Acquire Vocada
[October 18, 2007]

Nuance Announces Plans to Acquire Vocada


TMCnet Contributing Editor
 
Nuance (News - Alert), a supplier of speech solutions, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Vocada, Inc., a provider of critical test result management (CRTM) solutions.



Vocada’s Veriphy solution, delivered through a software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) model, is designed to help hospital diagnostic departments to achieve greater patient safety, better patient outcomes and higher staff productivity through the communication process surrounding critical test results by delivering efficiency and verification to the process.


With the transaction, Nuance will be able to broaden the capabilities of its Dictaphone Healthcare solutions, extend the company’s domain expertise within diagnostic specialties, accelerate revenue growth through SaaS offerings and help healthcare provider organizations to comply with industry mandates associated with the time in which critical test results are identified, documented and communicated.

"Affirming feedback and results from joint customers who've benefited from our existing partnership with Vocada reinforces clinical communications management functionality as a complement to our speech-driven Dictaphone clinical documentation solutions," said Paul Ricci (News - Alert), chairman and CEO of Nuance Communications, Inc, in a Wednesday statement.

"The value was strong enough to expand our relationship beyond that of a partner. Similar to our recent purchase of Commissure, this strategic acquisition helps Nuance provide more robust and integrated solutions to meet the increasing demands associated with the healthcare industry."

Positioned as a natural extension to PowerScribe, the Dictaphone Healthcare radiology and pathology solution, Vocada’s technology will help healthcare provider organizations to avoid risks associated with delays in communicating critical patient findings. The current process for delivering and managing critical test results is manual and considered to be disjointed, inefficient and prone to error.

"Because of the impact on the cost and quality of healthcare, increased requirements related to clinical communications management among caregivers is raising to the forefront of healthcare provider organizations," said Peter White CEO of Vocada, in Wednesday’s statement.

"By combining forces with Dictaphone, we can tap into new capabilities and resources through the Nuance team to expand our market penetration and continue technology advancements to improve clinical communications and minimize risks, such as malpractice cases, accidental deaths and high costs associated with poor communication."

Vocada brings the following benefits and capabilities to Nuance: Innovative Solutions for the Radiology, Cardiology, Pathology and Lab Markets; Track Record of Industry Success and Strong Relationships; Software-as-a-Service Flexibility and Benefits; and Integrated Radiology Reporting and Critical Test Result Management Solution.

Nuance has already been exposed to some of the benefits that Vocada can provide as a result of working with the CRTM solutions provider in the past. With this acquisition, Nuance will be able to position itself in expanded markets, creating additional revenue streams and broadening its portfolio.
 
 
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC (News - Alert) and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.
 

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