Patient Engagement

Patient engagement tech firm acquires Mayo Clinic-linked mobile app firm

North Carolina health IT firm Axial Exchange is acquiring mRemedy, which was formed as a joint venture between Mayo Clinic and DoApp Inc. in order to provide hospitals a mobile platform with which to stay connected to their patients. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but as a result of the deal, four […]


North Carolina health IT firm Axial Exchange is acquiring mRemedy, which was formed as a joint venture between Mayo Clinic and DoApp Inc. in order to provide hospitals a mobile platform with which to stay connected to their patients.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but as a result of the deal, four Mayo Clinic doctors will become members of an advisory board at Axial Exchange. The doctors will provide clinical expertise to help in the  ongoing development of Axial’s products.

Both Mayo Clinic and Canaan Partners, which has an investment in Axial, also invested in the company to help it acquire mRemedy.

Axial Exchange, which designs software by which patients can transition from the hospital to their homes, will fold mRemedy’s myTality suite to its care transition business.

“We are on a mission to make great software that changes things,” said CEO Joanne Rodhe, a former Red Hat executive, in an interview. “To have Mayo represent us on the healthcare side of things is huge.”

And Axial appears to know a thing or two about great software. Last year, the Office of the National Coordinator which is managing the application of Meaningful Use to the use of electronic health records, and other technology-driven changes under healthcare reform , chose Axial’s software as the top winner in the category – Developer Challenge on “Ensuring Safe Transitions From Hospital to Home.

Just as DoApp licensed Mayo’s medical library, so will Axial, Rohde said, adding that the relationship underscores Mayo’s interest in seeing the myTality suite of apps succeed by having it be a part of a healthcare company.

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By contrast DoApp focuses on building its successful platform model for newspapers, TV stations and radio stations to deliver content on mobile devices.

“Mayo is doubling down on a firm that is all in healthcare and not 90 percent in media,” Rohde said.

DoApp founder and CEO Wade Beavers welcomed the acquisition of mRemedy saying that Axial Exchange has expertise in EMRs and patient engagement that DoApp and mRemedy do not.

“For Axial, acquiring mRemedy is a way to get into mobile,” Beavers said. “We liked the leadership of Axial especially Joanne.

For her part, Rohde added that mRemedy is a natural fit with Axial Exchange because now with Axial’s tools each patient that uses the myTality tools to track his/her health issuse or search a disease condition, can be offered a personalized care plan. Axial has 10 hospital clients – one it could name is Wake Med in Raliegh, North Carolina.

Axial’s newly forged relationship with Mayo is part of a broader trend where large hospitals are looking for ways to keep their patient population healthy and prevent readmissions, specifically in certain disease categories like diabetes and heart health.
Making sure that patients transition well from the hospital to the home or to a nursing home is part and parcel of that.
“Mayo is going full tilt with care transitions,” said Dr Paul Takahashi, a geriatrician at Mayo who will be one of the four doctors advising Axial.

North Carolina health IT firm Axial Exchange is acquiring mRemedy, which was formed as a joint venture between Mayo Clinic and DoApps Inc. in order to provide hospitals a mobile platform with which to stay connected to their patients.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but as a result of the deal, four Mayo Clinic doctors will become members of an advisory board at Axial Exchange. The doctors will provide clinical expertise to help in the  ongoing development of Axial’s products.

Both Mayo Clinic and Canaan Partners, which has an investment in Axial, also invested in the company to help it acquire mRemedy.

Axial Exchange, which designs software by which patients can transition from the hospital to their homes, will fold mRemedy’s myTality suite to its care transition business.

“We are on a mission to make great software that changes things,” said CEO Joanne Rodhe, a former Red Hat executive, in an interview. “To have Mayo represent us on the healthcare side of things is huge.”

And Axial appears to know a thing or two about great software. Last year, the Office of the National Coordinator which is managing the application of Meaningful Use to the use of electronic health records, and other technology-driven changes under healthcare reform , chose Axial’s software as the top winner in the category – Developer Challenge on “Ensuring Safe Transitions From Hospital to Home.

Just as DoApps licensed Mayo’s medical library, so will Axial, Rohde said, adding that the relationship underscores Mayo’s interest in seeing the myTality suite of apps succeed by having it be a part of a healthcare company.

By contrast DoApps focuses on building its successful platform model for newspapers, TV stations and radio stations to deliver content on mobile devices.

“Mayo is doubling down on a firm that is all in healthcare and not 90 percent in media,” Rohde said.

A call to a a DoApps executive was not returned.

Rohde added that mRemedy is a natural fit with Axial Exchange because now with Axial’s tools each patient that uses the myTality tools to track his/her health issuse or search a disease condition, can be offered a personalized care plan. Axial has 10 hospital clients – one it could name is Wake Med in Raliegh, North Carolina.

Axial’s newly forged relationship with Mayo is part of a broader trend where large hospitals are looking for ways to keep their patient population healthy and prevent readmissions, specifically in certain disease categories like diabetes and heart health.

Making sure that patients transition well from the hospital to the home or to a nursing home is part and parcel of that.

“Mayo is going full tilt with care transitions,” said Dr Paul Takahashi, a geriatrician at Mayo who will be one of the four doctors advising Axial.

 

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