Barco Acquires Patient Bedside Terminal Provider JAOtech

Barco recently acquired UK-based JAOtech, a leading designer and manufacturer of medical-grade Smart Terminals for bedside applications. The advanced terminals feature a host of modular options such as barcode scanners, smart card and RFID readers, and partners are provided with specialist software drivers to enable the solution to integrate with the hospital information system (HIS)—providing healthcare staff with secure access to EMRs and vital patient information at the point-of-care.

With this strategic acquisition, Barco broadens its offering with point-of-care solutions.

Kortrijk, Belgium, 03 February 2012 – Healthcare imaging specialist Barco announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire UK-based JAOtech, a leading manufacturer of patient entertainment and point-of-care terminals for hospitals. The acquisition fits within Barco’s long-term vision of increasing healthcare efficiency and its growth strategy of expanding into multiple healthcare segments. With the JAOtech terminals and associated software, Barco builds a strong position in the fast growing point of care (POC) segment in healthcare.

“Today’s hospitals set extremely high standards when it comes to patient care and comfort. However, a fast growing and ageing population calls for major efforts from hospitals and staff to continue to operate efficiently. For that reason, hospitals need advanced technologies that help improve workflow and hospital productivity”, comments Eric Van Zele, Barco’s President and CEO. “JAOtech’s patient bedside Smart Terminals offer both clinical and entertainment services to help increase hospital efficiency, in addition to giving patients a more comfortable stay.”

JAOtech designs and manufactures medical-grade Smart Terminals for bedside applications. Products include an ergonomic range of mounting solutions and accessories, such as medical keyboards, arms and wall boxes. The advanced terminals are fully customizable and feature a host of modular options such as barcode scanners, smart card and RFID readers. Partners are provided with specialist software drivers to enable the system solution to integrate seamlessly with the hospital information system (HIS) providing healthcare staff with secure access to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and vital patient information. Patients are presented with an array of education and entertainment tools, such as TV, radio and access to e-mail and the internet.

Piet Candeel, Senior Vice President of Barco and General Manager of Barco’s Healthcare division, adds: “This acquisition fits in our long-term vision of penetrating a wide range of healthcare segments. Today, Barco is market leader in mammography, diagnostic and modality imaging. With the acquisition of JAOtech, we strengthen our position as market leader in healthcare visualization, as the JAOtech terminals enable us to become a leading player in the patient point of care (POC) segment.”

“We are very pleased to become a member of the Barco family”, says Warren Kressinger-Dunn, CEO of JAOtech. “Hospitals around the world are starting to consider the enormous potential of patient bedside entertainment and communication systems. This agreement allows us to capitalize on Barco’s leading position in the healthcare industry, which will definitely help us to expand our reach in the marketplace and become a world player in healthcare.”

JAOtech is headquartered in Surrey, UK and has offices in Taipei City (Taiwan), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Connecticut (US) and Saarbrücken (Germany). JAOtech employs a staff of approximately 50 people and realized sales of approximately 19 million euro in 2011. The total price paid for the acquisition is below one year sales.

About JAOtech

JAOtech is a multi-award winning market leader providing fully integrated bedside computing and multimedia solutions. JAOtech’s expertise is in the design and manufacturing of a range of bedside Smart Terminals, Smart Healthcare TVs, specialist point-of-care software & associated accessories. Over 55,000 systems have been installed in over 200 hospitals worldwide in partnership with approved technology partners. The terminals provide a core solution for a host of interactive healthcare applications offering secure access to Electronics Medical Records (EMR) and providing triple-play solutions for patient entertainment. JAOtech is dedicated to the betterment of healthcare IT.
About Barco

Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3,500 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 897 million euro in 2010.

   

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