UK highlights: Doro acquires Connexus Careline, Tunstall warns on winter isolation and disconnected care, Buddi seeks Sales Account Manager

October 15, 2020 | by

Doro continues its acquisition streak in the UK, acquiring the assets of Connexus Careline from Connexus Housing Group. Connexus currently provides services to local authorities, housing associations, the private sector, and charities, with about 25,000 telecare connections in the UK. Terms and timing were not disclosed. Based on the August count, this brings Doro in at over 250,000 UK connections. Doro’s acquisitions have been ElderCare UK [TTA 11 Aug], Invicta Telecare, parent of Centra Pulse and Connect [TTA 19 Sept 19], and Welbeing [7 June 18], Press release (PDF).

So many open questions… What are their future plans for integrating all these individual systems and different technologies? What will Doro UK represent in the market, now that they are second in the UK?

Tunstall Healthcare UK is also reminding local governments, health and social care leaders that winter is approaching, and now is the time to set up remote patient monitoring to connect to care the most vulnerable in cold weather, a factor magnified by their isolation during the continuing pandemic. Tunstall features several solutions in RPM which are mentioned in the release.

Editor’s note: this type of seasonal release was a staple for QuietCare when I was in marketing for our activity/temperature monitoring of those living at home alone. We also included a proprietary study made during winter (and later summer) among our client base. 1) It’s surprising that more RPM and telecare companies don’t take this approach, especially now, but 2) Tunstall could have made an even greater case for itself with some quantitative research stats.

Buddi is seeking a Sales Account Manager position to join their Health Sales Team based in the southern half of England. The particulars are here (PDF) including application and contact information. Thank you Fiona Carmichael of Buddi for reaching out to us! (If you have a position to fill, our listings are complementary.)

Tunstall Healthcare (UK) and Group Holdings’ 2019 year end reports filed: highlights

October 8, 2020 | by

With all the changes at Tunstall Healthcare Group [TTA 2 Sep, 10 Apr], their Companies House filings due 30 September for the 2019 fiscal year might tell us more about their status prior to the entry of their new funders Barings, M&G, and a possible third investor. Tunstall files three main reports: one for Tunstall Healthcare (UK) Limited, for Tunstall Healthcare Group Limited, and Tunstall Group Holdings Limited, the holding company. The UK unit and Tunstall Group Holdings filed by the 30 September deadline; the Healthcare Group has not filed as of today.

Tunstall UK’s report is in PDF here. Revenue in the UK crested the £100 million level, up over £3 million from 2018. Of this, the core UK revenue amounted to £68.2 million, up 0.8%, with the remainder export trade with other Tunstall companies. Operating profit was, before adjustment for EBITDA, £27.4 million, adjusted to £16.8 million, down from 2018’s £19.4 million.

  • The report also notes revenue growth for Connected Care Managed Services and Group Living Services. 2019 was challenging for Group Living Installations and Digital Health with continued declines, though the report adds some optimism for 2020 due to cloud-based services, for customers to use their own devices, and–of course–to COVID-19 and remote monitoring’s rise in most areas.
  • COVID-19 rears its gloomy head here even though outside the report period. On page 5 is an assessment of the company as a ‘going concern’; even factoring in a gloomy second late 2020 COVID lockdown scenario, the directors believe that the company will continue to operate and comply with its covenants. On page 6 under ‘events after the financial period’ is a further explanation of this.
  • Finally, the new financing is referred to on page 7. Tunstall Group Holdings has been purchased by a Jersey-based group. It was restructured to reduce its existing debt and establish a new available loan facility of over €20 million.

Tunstall Group Holdings’ (TGH) report is in PDF here. Their global revenue amounted to £216.7 million with an operating profit of £47.9 million before adjustment for EBITDA, £19.5 million adjusted. Both were reduced from 2018. The consolidated income statement, as in 2018, shows a consolidated loss of £71.1 million, reduced by £15 million from 2018. An additional note on the restructuring is the forgiveness of the balance of £531 million owed to the financing arm TGH Acquisitions Limited (page 11).

  • The Americas sale is detailed on page 85. It is easy to see why the unit was sold, as in 2018 it had an operating loss of £4.3 million on £31 million in revenue. Factoring in asset disposal and other parts of discontinued operations, it’s fortunate it’s a one-time only event.

Jersey-based organizations, of course, enjoy far more favorable taxation structures. This Editor’s limited understanding of UK filings is that the Group will have to file with the Jersey Companies Registrar, but the UK group will have to file with Companies House as operating in the UK. If any Reader can clarify this, please comment below.

Charterhouse now finally lists Tunstall as one of their ‘realised’ exits. A long and unprofitable road from 2008 to 2020.

Hat tip on the reports to a Reader in the UK industry who wishes to remain anonymous.

News roundup: Ancestry sells 75% to Blackstone, Cornwall NHS partners with Tunstall, most dangerous health IT trends, Slovenski departs from Walmart Health

August 13, 2020 | by

Ancestry sells 75 percent of the genealogy/genetics company to Blackstone for $4.7 bn. The acquisition by the private equity company buys out other equity holders: Silver Lake, GIC, Spectrum Equity, Permira, and others. Ancestry’s business combines their genealogy database with consumer genomics for both heritage and health. The Blackstone release notes that their goals in the acquisition are to expand data, functionality, and product development across the Ancestry platform as part of their investment in growth businesses. If an acquisition cost of $4.7 bn seems high, Ancestry’s revenue is cited as $1 bn annually.

Once blazingly hot, both Ancestry and 23andMe saw their consumer businesses crater late last year, with layoffs in January and February. It’s an example of a quickly saturated market (one test and you’re done) flogged by annoying TV commercials over the holidays [TTA 13 Feb]. Where the profit is, of course, is not in consumer tests but in selling the genomic data to other companies, something which the market leader, 23andMe, realized early on with half-ownership by GSK ($300 million, a real bargain). 23andMe is also intensively marketing as a premium subscription service updates on health information derived from member testing. Ancestry has followed, but reportedly has not been as proactive in linking genetic information to health outcomes. STAT

 This Editor noted back in August 2018 that it was long past time for a Genomic Data Bill of Rights for consumers to be fully transparent on where their data is going, how it is being used, and to easily keep their data private without jumping through a ridiculous number of hoops. It’s a conclusion now being reached by various privacy groups according to MedCityNews. Also noted is that Ancestry, in its complex and long privacy policy, can use your “personal information to market new products from the company or its business partners, but says it will not share users’ genetic information with insurers, employers or third-party marketers without their express consent.” But when your 75 percent owner has real estate and other healthcare holdings, can you trust them?

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust partnered with Tunstall Healthcare UK on a 26-week support program during the pandemic for young people 11+ with a range of eating disorders. The patient group used the myMobile app and the ICP triagemanager software to send in weekly reports on their vital signs and answer symptom-related questions, which are tracked over time via a secure portal to monitor progress. The myMobile app has parameters set for individual patients, where readings outside them generate a system alert that is sent to clinicians. The program was able to ascertain that 32 patients were at high risk and have been referred. Cornwall/Tunstall white paper, ATToday.co.uk

As if COVID Fear weren’t bad enough, now we have to be frightened of Dangerous IT Trends. Becker’s Health IT interviewed eight healthcare executives and came up with a list of what keeps them up at night:

  • The sluggish rate at which healthcare systems embrace new technology
  • We won’t be going back to the pre-pandemic normal and how healthcare deals with that
  • Overlooking data security and medical device vulnerabilities
  • Cutting IT staff and budgets without acknowledging the consequences
  • The consequences of hastily moving workers remote and securing their devices

All of the above are not new, and it’s rather shocking that they haven’t been addressed.

And in Comings and Goings, we have a Notable Going. Sean Slovenski, who for the past two years has been heading up Walmart US’ Health and Wellness initiatives, departed the company last week with a replacement to be named in the coming weeks. Mr. Slovenski had been heading up a variety of healthcare initiatives, including in-store primary and dental care clinics which have opened up in four Arkansas and Georgia locations with an additional eight planned plus Florida. Walmart also opened up 100 COVID testing locations in store parking lots. His efforts were acknowledged in Walmart’s departure statement to staff. Mr. Slovenski “and his team have successfully stood up the strategy we hired him to create,” Walmart’s CEO John Furner said in a memo to staff. Walmart has also laid off over 1,000 corporate employees in a recent restructuring. Mr. Slovenski is most noted in digital health circles as CEO of Care Innovations for 2 1/2 years during the Intel-GE ownership. He was also with Healthways-ShareCare and Humana. Walmart is up against a long list of heavyweight challengers in retail health, including Amazon, CVS Aetna, and Walgreens–and may be deciding that an independent run is not worth it.