This morning BioTelemetry, a remote and wireless company with a specialization in health information, announced that it is acquiring startup Geneva Healthcare, maker of remote monitoring for implantable cardiac devices, for $45 million in upfront cash with additional performance-based earn-out considerations of no less than $20 million. 

The plan is for the two companies to merge together under BioTelemetry’s name. The Pennsylvania company will gain access to Geneva’s cloud-based platform, which has the ability to aggregate data from device manufacturer systems. This gives physicians a platform to remotely keep track all of their patients that have implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators and loop recorders, while also providing the doctors with the results of routine checks and monitoring. 

The companies announced that Geneva shareholders can either recieve the earn-out in cash, stock or a combination of the two. The deal is expected to officially close by the end of Q1 2019, and has already got the nod from both boards. 

Why it matters

The acquisition is expected to help bring the two companies' products together, which could impact workflow and give more informations to doctors. 

“Cardiology providers are looking for strategic solutions to improve patient care and workflow. We provide these solutions by leveraging technology to deliver better patient care and a better patient experience,” Yuri Sudhakar, CEO of Geneva, said in a statement. “We think this powerful combination of complimentary tech-enabled services provides Geneva the necessary resources to significantly expand our reach in the over $1 billion domestic implantable cardiac device monitoring market, delivering the much-needed benefits of our technology and service to cardiac practices, physicians and patients.”

What's the trend

This isn’t BioTelemetry’s first acquisition in the digital health space. In 2016 BioTelemetry acquired TelCare, a diabetes management technology company with the distinction of developing the first FDA-cleared, cellular-connected glucometer. 

The company was also involved in the Apple Heart Study. If a patient was identified as having possible atrial fibrillation but not needing urgent care, then Stanford would ship them BioTelemetry’s ePatch, an ECG monitoring patch. The user will wear the patch for a few days, allowing researchers to get side-by-side Apple Watch heart rate and ECG data.

On the record

“We are extremely excited about the combination of these two market-leading, technology-enabled service providers,” Joseph H. Capper, president and CEO of BioTelemetry, said in a statement. “Just as we revolutionized remote cardiac outpatient monitoring, with our MCOT service and platform, Geneva is transforming the way physician offices consolidate and manage the monitoring of implantable cardiac devices. We believe the enhanced offering this merger creates will provide tremendous benefit to the thousands of clients we serve and will further solidify our leadership position in remote cardiac monitoring.”