Healthcare at Home Ltd Acquires Health Informatics Specialists Sciensus Ltd

BURTON, England, January 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Brings Sophisticated Healthcare Data Capture and Reporting Capabilities

Healthcare at Home Ltd (http://www.hah.co.uk), Europe's leading international provider of home-based healthcare and specialty pharmacy services, is today pleased to announce that it has acquired Sciensus Ltd, a provider of health informatics for clients across the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry.

Health informatics is an area of worldwide growth potential as governments seek to optimise the value from healthcare spending, and pharmaceutical companies are asked to demonstrate greater clinical and cost effectiveness for the products they produce. The data currently gathered by Sciensus about how treatments work in "real life" settings, rather than in clinical trials alone, is therefore of immense value to all involved in patient-centric health provision. The Sciensus acquisition enables Healthcare at Home to provide sophisticated data capture and reporting systems for its clients, alongside existing home drug delivery and clinical care services.

Sciensus will continue to operate independently with its current management team in order to ensure absolute focus on customer requirements and integrity on matters relating to information governance. Healthcare at Home will work with Sciensus to maximise the visibility, value and effect of the clinical services it can offer. The information regarding treatment and service outcomes will generate even greater insight and evidence to support the case for treating patients outside of the traditional hospital setting. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mike Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare at Home, commented: "With the NHS and pharmaceutical sector seeking greater measures of the efficiency and effectiveness of their interventions, the acquisition of Sciensus gives Healthcare at Home industry-leading expertise with which to help our customers achieve this goal."

Healthcare at Home delivers a wide range of clinical services across many therapeutic areas to more than 100,000 patients each year, working in partnership with the NHS, private medical insurers, pharmaceutical companies, charities, and self-funding patients. The company's convenient and innovative services are highly rated by patients and referring clinicians, and deliver cost-effective solutions for healthcare commissioners.(1)

By working with patients, and their families, to keep them out of hospital, Healthcare at Home provides services that enable patients to lead more independent lives by providing them with high quality care when they need it and where they want it. Healthcare at Home provides a full service home healthcare approach, offering services such as chemotherapy at home, paediatric care and the provision of emotional and clinical support by fully trained nursing staff.

About Healthcare at Home Ltd

Healthcare at Home was established in 1992 by Charles Walsh, now Executive Chairman. The vision was, and remains today, to enhance the way in which clinical and pharmaceutical services are provided for patients, their families and carers. The vision is realised through the provision of innovative services to patients in the comfort of their own homes, within the community, and on site within the NHS and the independent sector.

The company has grown rapidly since its formation to become a leading provider of home healthcare internationally. With headquarters in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, Healthcare at Home operates from locations throughout the UK, enabling its services to be provided to patients anywhere in the UK, from a local base. Total staff numbers within the company have risen to just over 1,000, of whom approximately half are highly skilled and experienced clinical staff. The Company has a strong and substantial financial track record and has a minimum risk score as rated by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), the financial rating agency.

About Sciensus

Sciensus was established in 2003 at the University of Sussex Innovation Centre forging links with local clinical and academic bodies. Sciensus has developed expertise and infrastructure to build market access services with many of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. Their work in developing proven clinical registry applications is highly regarded by those centres that now use their systems.

References:

1. Hospital Care At Home - A joint report by Healthcare at Home Ltd and Dr Foster Intelligence, February 2010. http://www.hospital-care-at-home.co.uk

For further information please contact:

    
    Healthcare at Home
    Steve Davis, Head of Marketing
    Tel: +44(0)7818-016160
    Email: steve.davis@hah.co.uk
 
    M:Communications
    Nick Francis / Emma Thompson
    Tel: +44(0)207-920-2342
    Email: healthcareathome@mcomgroup.com