Healthcare Technology Featured Article

July 02, 2012

HealthStream Acquires Decision Critical for $4.3 Million


HealthStream Inc., a source of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry, has acquired Decision Critical, Inc. for $4.3 million.

Decision Critical is an Austin, Texas based company that offers learning and competency management products for acute-care hospitals.

HealthStream, which provides tools for assessing and evaluating hospital staffs, will gain a patented technology to its software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based solutions and a customer base now able to develop the talents and skills of its workforce.

"At HealthStream, we are passionate about developing the best possible products and capabilities to measure, manage, and develop hospitals' workforces," said Robert A Frist, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer at HealthStream. "Having recently launched the HealthStream Performance Center and SimCenter, we are continuing to add products and capabilities to our innovative talent management suite through the acquisition of Decision Critical."

Now part of HealthStream's talent management product suite is Critical Portfolio, “a patented electronic tool to store and view the qualifications, competencies and skills of the hospital's workforce, including their licenses, educational records and credentials,” according to a news release.

Trained staff is essential to hospitals’ business performance and patient safety. "The most successful way I've ever had reducing cost and increasing volumes has been through staff training," Marshall Maglothin, a consultant and former cardiovascular service line manager, told Becker's Hospital Review. “The costs associated with delivering medical care have always been high, and they can be even greater if a healthcare provider does not have skilled administrative and clinical employees who can do their jobs efficiently and effectively.”

Individual employees can maintain their profiles, while hospital managers can get access to and use portfolio data for meeting regulatory reporting requirements or succession planning and career ladder development.

HealthStream’s customer base reportedly represents over half of the nation's acute-care hospitals.

Critical Portfolio provides capabilities for the Magnet Recognition Program of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which formally acknowledges healthcare organizations that epitomize nursing excellence. The application process includes comprehensive reporting of the qualifications and expertise of nursing personnel, including the ability to satisfy specific Magnet-required reporting.

The Magnet Recognition Program acknowledges healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.

Decision Critical products also include learning management, skills checklists and evaluation tools. As part of HealthStream, customers of Decision Critical will now have access to the HealthStream Competency Center, HealthStream Performance Center, SimCenter and Insights Surveys, along with content offerings from Laerdal Medical, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and Precyse Solutions.




Edited by Braden Becker
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