Map of Medicine, the provider of web-based patient pathways tool developed from an NHS-funded research project and widely installed across the health service, has been bought from Informa by the Hearst Corporation for an undisclosed sum.
Map of Medicine offers clinical information simply displayed online as 392 graphic patient pathways. It has been adopted as one of the applications offered by the £12.4bn NHS IT programme.
The software, offered through a web portal, has become one of the main services delivered by Fujitsu and Computer Sciences Corporation under the NHS IT programme.
Some of the health guides within Map of Medicine have also been incorporated within new NHS Choices website as information resources for patients. In addition the NHS-funded Map is also available through NHS agencies including the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the National Patient Safety Agency and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
Work on the ‘Map’ began in 2000, and was the result of six years work by a dedicated team involving more than 500 doctors and nurses. The original development work was undertaken by the NHS and stems from an original partnership between the Royal Free and University College Medical School, the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust and the NHS National Library for Health.
Hearst’s president and CEO, Victor Ganzi, president & CEO, Hearst Corporation, confirmed on 2 April that Hearst had bought the clinical decision support system from Informa for an undisclosed fee. Map of Medicine, will now be managed in London as a separate operating unit.
Ganzi said: “The acquisition of Map of Medicine demonstrates Hearst’s commitment to improving the quality and effectiveness of health-care for governments, societies and individuals.”
Richard Malloch, president of Hearst Business Media, said: “Map of Medicine, in combination with Zynx, will allow us to significantly grow our international health-care information business into the future.”
Mallach added: “With this acquisition, we now have an unparalleled collection of clinical databases and software, as well as a world-class group of physicians, nurses and pharmacists in the global health-care industry.”
Map of Medicine was founded in 2000 at London’s Royal Free Hospital by Owen Epstein and Mike Stein. It was bought by business publisher Informa Plc in 2005.
“I’m delighted to join Hearst Corporation and look forward to the many opportunities we will have with the combination of these databases and executives,” said Stein, who is also chief medical officer of Map of Medicine.
“Together with Zynx, I believe we are going to make a tremendous difference in health-care. As a result of the Map of Medicine’s success, demand is growing internationally, particularly in markets where health-care services are provided publicly, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Nordic countries,” he added.
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