Additional funding will drive investment in the latest clinical bed-side technology
London, 17 August 2012 - GE Capital's Healthcare Finance division has agreed to expand its equipment leasing facility to Slough-based Hospedia Ltd, the world's leading provider of point of care systems in healthcare, including media, information, clinical support software and infrastructure services.
Hospedia employs over 400 people and provides 69,000 bed-side terminals offering media, information and clinical support software including real-time patient feedback surveys and electronic meal-ordering to over 150 hospitals in the UK, which accounts for 75% of the acute hospitals on the NHS estate.
Following its acquisition of patient bed flow management company Extramed in July, the company plans to expand its clinical offering by making Extramed's Patient Flow management system available via its bedside terminals. This will allow the tracking and recording of patient movements and schedule of discharge activities to be more reliable, enabling more patients to be discharged safely and on time. The delivery of such clinical support services at the point of care through Hospedia's bedside systems aligns well with the UK Government's recently published Information Strategy, which aims to have patient information recorded once, at first contact with professional staff.
GE Capital initially provided a leasing facility of £8 million to Hospedia in September 2011 and continues to provide more funding, having recently put in place an additional £2 million. The latest round of financing will be used to support further investment in the next generation of bedside terminals and the roll-out of a range of information and clinical support software including Extramed's Patient Flow management system.
The total financing package agreed to date with Hospedia represents one of the largest equipment finance deals by GE Capital in the UK in the past year.
Jeremy Knight, Head of Healthcare Finance at GE Capital UK, commented: "We're pleased to continue our support for Hospedia at a potentially revolutionary time in at-bed hospital services. After going through a major automation and investment program, the company is extremely well positioned to grow by offering new clinical access services that support NHS efficiencies. We look forward to continuing to work with them on their journey".
Tim Weil, Chief Executive, Hospedia, said: "Our relationship with GE Capital supports us in our development and roll out of innovative new systems to improve patient outcomes and drive change in this healthcare industry. Our infrastructure is already installed in over 150 UK hospitals and will continue to grow rapidly as we expand internationally.
This extended financing facility, combined with our recent acquisition, comes at a critical time for the industry with recent calls for the standardising of bedside patient records and score cards by the Royal College of Physicians. It also puts us in a strong position to expand our offering, enabling nursing and clinical staff to save time that could be better spent on direct patient care and realise greater efficiency savings for hospitals".
Zoe Chambers Michael Goodbody
[email protected]
GE Capital EMEA
[email protected]
+44-207-302-6269
+44-7899-808-239
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