CME and Visualization Tools Hot Properties in Medical Publishing M&A

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Sep 20, 2021, 10:17 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- An analysis of merger and acquisition activity in the medical publishing space since 2019 revealed strategic demand for continuing medical education (CME) and visualization tools that support health care education and training — this according to Global Medical Publishing 2021-2025, the latest report from Simba Information.

Simba Information tracked eight deals involving CME tools from 2019 through August of 2021. This includes deals for publishers and content providers, but also systems that can be deployed at hospitals and clinics to track and document the staff's progress towards meeting CME requirements.

Symphony Technology Group purchased EthosCE, a health care learning management system, in July 2020. Similarly, HealthStream paid $4.5 million in December 2020 to acquire myClinicalExchange — a software as a service application that allows health care organizations to track, manage and report the educational requirements of students.

Simba also tracked five deals involving advanced visualization tools. Elsevier made two acquisitions in this area. First it bought 3D4Medical in November 2019, a Dublin, Ireland-based company that created an advanced 3D visualization platform focused on anatomy used by more than 1 million users. Then, in December 2020, Elsevier bought Shadow Health, a Florida-based developer of virtual simulations in nursing and health care education.

Wolters Kluwer exited an investment in Logical Images, a visual diagnostic resource, but will continue to partner with the company. In 2021, Afya Ltd. purchased Brazil-based Medical Harbour's interactive platform for anatomical study, 3D virtual dissection and analysis of medical images. In June 2021, TrueLearn acquired Picmonic, which specialized in the creation of audiovisual picture mnemonics in nursing, medicine and allied health.

Global Medical Publishing 2021-2025 outlines the strategies publishers, individually and collectively, will pursue in this environment of constant change.

Market leaders in medical online content include Wolters Kluwer and Elsevier, but many others as well. In the traditional clinical reference area, Wolters Kluwer's UpToDate and Elsevier's ClinicalKey vie with EBSCO's DynaMed, Hearst's Zynx and McGraw Hill's AccessMedicine. Market leading drug databases include IBM's Micromedex, Hearst's First DataBank, and Wolters Kluwer's LexiComp. In the training and certification market, leaders include Wolters Kluwer's Learning Digest, Elsevier's HESI, but also Ascend Learning and Pearson.

Global Medical Publishing 2021-2025 provides detailed market information for medical and health care publishing, segmented by delivery medium: journals, books, online content, abstracting and indexing (A&I) and other activities (audio, video and CD-ROM). It analyzes trends impacting the industry and forecasts market growth to 2025. The report includes an in-depth review of 10 leading medical publishers.

About Simba Information:
Simba Information is widely recognized as the authority for market intelligence in the media and publishing industries. Its extensive information network delivers top quality, independent perspectives on the people, events and alliances shaping the industry. Simba routinely assists clients and the press with publishing and media industry analysis. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Dan Strempel
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SOURCE Simba Information