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Chris Newmarker
January 3, 2014
1 Min Read
.svg?width=850&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale "Stryker Invests in Tech to Prevent Operating Room Mishaps")
Stryker recently announced that it will pay about $120 million, or $2.22 per share, for Patient Safety Technologies and its bar code tracking technology meant to prevent medical professionals accidentally leaving sponges and other items inside of patients post-surgery.
Patient Safety Technologies operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Irvine, CA-based SurgiCount Medical. Stryker is obviously making a bet that preventing costly operating room mishaps is also good business. Leah Binder says just as much in Forbes: "Believe it or not, the idea that preventing such horrors could be profitable is a market breakthrough." Patient Safety Technologies has a proprietary Safety-Sponge System and SurgiCount 360 compliance software. It saw $14.9 million in revenue during the first nine months of its 2013 fiscal year. |
A Safety-Sponge barcode |
According to Stryker, sponges are the most common object retained during surgery, with about 2,300 incidents reported annually at an average cost per incident of over $400,000.
"This acquisition aligns with Stryker's focus on offering products and services that have demonstrated cost effectiveness and clinical outcomes," says Timothy J. Scannell, Stryker's group president in the medical surgery area.
The deal, announced on New Year's Eve, is expected to close early this year.
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