PeriGen and WatchChild Combine Forces

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- PeriGen®, the leading developer of fetal surveillance systems using artificial intelligence (AI) for clinical and operational benefit, today announced that Perigen has acquired the WatchChild® Fetal Monitoring System from Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC). The combination creates the most comprehensive perinatal safety platform available, and marks a new era in obstetric solutions.

Users of both the PeriGen PeriCALM® and WatchChild systems will continue using their current systems with full contracted support. Going forward customers will have access to incremental clinical tools, analytics, increased enterprise management and interfacing libraries as well as a telemedicine infrastructure. Together PeriCALM and WatchChild count many of the nation's leading health systems and clinicians as clients, development partners, and research collaborators.

PeriGen's AI-driven clinical decision support (CDS) tools are FDA-cleared and its pattern recognition software was validated in an independent study published by the NICHD. The tools provide valuable clinical, financial and operational benefits to users and will be made available to WatchChild customers.  

Additionally, the company will take advantage of unique and significant advances that WatchChild has made in Enterprise Software Management, electronic health record (EHR) integration and immediate access to maternal/fetal data.  The combined investments in research and development as well as personnel will also result in expanded clinical, implementation and customer support teams.  

The go-forward entity will be led by PeriGen chief executive officer Matthew Sappern. The management team will include senior executives from both companies, including the appointment of Brian Bishop, currently the general manager of WatchChild, as chief product officer responsible for product strategy and development.

"When the PeriGen and WatchChild teams came together to discuss a combination, we shared a vision to provide a suite of clinical and IT management tools that go far beyond basic fetal surveillance and EHR interfacing," said Sappern. "Our respective customers are demanding a strategic solution rather than just a utility that digitizes the fetal strip; they want more clinical, financial and operational control and impact."

Steven Clark, M.D., professor of maternal fetal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine commented, "I've had the pleasure of working independently on research projects with the PeriGen team and seeing how well the technology can augment nursing to the benefit of patients, clinicians and research teams. As a current WatchChild customer, I am excited about this combination."

"All of us on the WatchChild team are enthusiastic about what this means for our customers in the way of innovation, resources and commitment to advances in patient safety and operational excellence," said Bishop. "Building on these two platforms, sharing ideas and experience, is an exciting opportunity for the company, our customers and, ultimately, patients."

In conjunction with the WatchChild acquisition, PeriGen has closed an investment round led by Ambina Partners that includes participation by existing PeriGen investors Galen Partners and Trident Capital. As a result of this investment, Greg Share, Ambina Partners' founder, will join PeriGen's board, together with John Gomez, CEO of cyber security firm Sensato and former CTO of Allscripts.

Together PeriCALM and WatchChild own a sizable footprint in the market with hundreds of clients and installations across the country spanning academic medical centers, tertiary centers, community hospitals and critical access facilities. 

ABOUT PERIGEN, INC.
PeriGen offers innovative perinatal software solutions that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) features to enhance clinical efficiency and standardization of care during childbirth. Led by skilled OB practitioners and IT visionaries, PeriGen has created the PeriCALM platform to provides consistent analysis and efficient display of complex data in real-time to promote better human recognition and communication about impending problems during labor. With PeriCALM clinicians can spend more time on direct patient care and less time on manual calculations and data manipulation.  To learn more, visit www.perigen.com; follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook; or call 877.700.4755 or email.

ABOUT HILL-ROM HOLDINGS, INC.
Hill-Rom is a leading global medical technology company with 10,000 employees worldwide. We partner with health care providers in more than 100 countries by focusing on patient care solutions that improve clinical and economic outcomes in five core areas: Advancing Mobility, Wound Care and Prevention, Clinical Workflow, Surgical Safety and Efficiency and Respiratory Health. Around the world, Hill-Rom's people, products, and programs work towards one mission: Every day, around the world, we enhance outcomes for patients and their caregivers. Visit www.hill-rom.com for more information.

Media Contact:
Lynne Hagan
PeriGen
609.240.2209
[email protected]

Michelle Noteboom
Amendola Communications for PeriGen
512.426.2870
[email protected]

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SOURCE PeriGen

Related Links

http://www.perigen.com