Doro AB splitting in two, Doro Care changing name to Careium

October 27, 2021 | by

Sweden’s Doro AB announced today that it is dividing itself into two companies. Doro Phones will continue to be known as Doro. Doro Care will adopt a new name, Careium. This will involve a formal redistribution of shares to current shareholders. The plan is that Careium will be listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market for Nordic small to mid-sized companies early in December 2021. The actual distribution will be disclosed at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 22 November.

According to Doro’s release on the corporate change, this started in 2020 with the separation of the phone and care business lines. Doro’s board of directors (BOD) believes that the now-former Doro Care “has now achieved the right conditions to act independently and develop outside Doro. A distribution and listing of Careium’s shares is considered to be able to contribute to Careium being able to continue to develop its business model and offering.” 

Careium’s logo is live–but not its website, which has but a discreet notice that it is under construction. There is a link to Doro Care in the UK only highlighting their three companies: Centra, Eldercare, and Welbeing–though what is not stated is the future of these three trade names. For their debut day, a standard marketing procedure (SMP) would be to go live with a home page containing the brand name change statement here. Another mystery: why the Careium website links only to the UK, and not to the websites of all the countries where Doro Care operates: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Spain.

And speaking of trade names….Careium will have difficulty using that name if their business development eventually includes the US, because there is a small home care company in Illinois called Careium Home Health which may, or may not, have protected that name. 

What do you think of the new name? Does it sound like something out of the Roman Empire, or is it a good choice? (It’s better than Facebook’s new moniker of Meta-whatever)

Hat tip to Adrian Scaife, head of collaboration and marketing at Alcuris.

Doro adds Spain’s Victrix SocSan to its growing brand portfolio for £1.28 million plus shares

September 30, 2020 | by

Sweden’s Doro has a new addition to its portfolio, and it’s an interesting one. Victrix SocSan, headquartered in Madrid, coordinates health and social care primarily through data analysis blending different health and social care sources “to provide low-cost yet highly effective proactive interventions for chronic disease management, elder care, and wellbeing.” It concentrates on care workflow and information exchange, according to their website. Unlike previous Doro acquisitions such as ElderCare UK [TTA 11 Aug], Invicta Telecare, parent of Centra Pulse and Connect [TTA 19 Sept 19], and Welbeing [7 June 18], it’s about the technology and not the territory or system. “A strong technical platform and knowledge is an important component in our strategy. The Victrix Care Platform gives us new opportunities to develop and offer coordinated and proactive care services, both in individual and assisted living, ” according to Doro Group President and CEO Carl-Johan Zetterberg Boudrie. 

The acquisition cost is modest compared to some of the US blockbuster deals we’ve seen lately. Cash upfront is SEK 14.8 million (UK£1.28 million, US$1.65 million, €1.41 million). The 232,744 shares in Doro AB closed today at SEK47.50 which is about SEK11.05 million (UK£956 thousand, US$1.2 million, €1.1 million). There are other payouts noted in the press release. Their results will be consolidated into Doro’s from 30 September. According to the release, the Victrix team will be joining Doro. Their CEO and founder, Joe Killen, is a familiar figure in the UK from his nearly 20 years at Tunstall Spain and Southern Europe. Hat tip to one of our UK Readers who wishes to stay anonymous.

Doro AB acquires Eldercare (UK) Limited, creating #2 in telecare

August 11, 2020 | by

Healthcare acquisitions are not bypassing the UK and Europe. Today (11 Aug), Sweden’s Doro announced its acquisition of Eldercare (UK) Limited of Lancashire. Terms were announced as cash approximately UK £2.2 million on cash and debt free basis. It is effective immediately and Eldercare’s revenue will be consolidated into Doro’s from 11 August.

Eldercare adds 50,000 connections to the Doro portfolio, bringing them into second place in UK telecare with over 230,000 connections. Doro’s earlier UK acquisitions were in 2019, Invicta Telecare, parent of Centra Pulse and Connect, from Clarion Housing in the southeast [TTA 19 Sept 19] and in 2018, Welbeing in Eastbourne [7 June 18].

Doro’s CEO notes that Eldercare adds to their position in the North of England, important as telecare is a localized and council-focused business in the UK. With over 100 employees, Eldercare is also a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered business and provides domiciliary care services. Eldercare’s CEO Chris Hopkinson is quoted in the release: “When we decided the time was right to step-change the development of our telecare services, we knew we needed an excellent partner. We chose Doro because we were impressed by their record of providing quality products and experience of delivering digital telecare solutions. They have shown their commitment to continue to improve and innovate the services we offer to our customers, as well as facilitating the transition to digital telecare in the UK.” 

Eldercare’s last independent financial report was for the financial year 2018/19, with revenue of UK £4.6 million (approximately SEK 52 million). 

Doro in many of its countries is best known for senior-friendly, easy to use wireless, mobile, and smart phones with add ons such as PERS apps. Eldercare, Invicta, and Welbeing are part of Doro Care, which markets social alarms and other home devices for the safety of older adults such as chair and epilepsy sensors. Hat tip to one of our faithful Readers.

Doro AB acquires Invicta Telecare from Clarion Housing, increasing to nearly 200,000 users (UK)

September 12, 2019 | by

While this Editor was on holiday, Sweden’s Doro AB increased its presence in the UK with the acquisition of Invicta Telecare, parent of Centra Pulse and Connect. Invicta’s products will join the Welbeing PERS service. which at the time of their acquisition last June had about 75-80,000 users [TTA 7 June 18].

Invicta was sold by Clarion Housing Group, the UK’s largest social housing association, which includes a property development company and a charitable foundation. Invicta’s 2018 revenue was £6.3 million. Like Welbeing, Centra Pulse offers basic and mobile PERS, but also has multi-sensor in-home connected home capability. It is also one of the top three UK monitoring services and is a major provider of after-hours contact services for telecare providers, such as housing associations and local authorities. The sale was effective on 1 September.

The UK remains the largest telecare market in the European region with an estimated 1.8 million telecare connections. It faces a transition to digital from analog systems which affects social care spending and residential service capabilities. Doro operates in the UK and about 40 countries, with a core business in mobile phones specially designed for older adults. Doro announcement, press release

News roundup: NeuroPace’s brain study, Welbeing’s Liverpool win, VA’s Apple talks, Medtronic’s diabetes move

December 6, 2018 | by

imageNeuroPace, which developed an implanted brain-responsive neuromodulation system for patients with refractory and drug-resistant epilepsy, announced the result of their nine-year long-term treatment study.

  • Approximately 3 out of 4 patients responded to therapy, achieving at least 50% seizure reduction
  • 1 in 3 patients achieved at least 90% seizure reduction
  • 28% of patients experienced seizure-free periods of six months or longer; 18% experienced seizure-free periods of one year or longer
  • Median seizure reduction across all patients was 75% at 9 years
  • Quality of life improvements (including cognition) were sustained through 9 years, with no chronic stimulation-related side effects.

The study included 256 patients across 33 epilepsy centers with nearly 1,900 patient implant years of follow-up on the RNS System. Release.

Liverpool Mutual Homes (LMH) sheltered housing awarded its emergency alarm contract to Welbeing, a Doro Group company. Welbeing has added 1,200 LMH residents to their alarm services. Release (PDF).  Hat tip to Welbeing’s Charlene Saunders.

It appears that the VA is talking with Apple about a mobile EHR. VA patients would be able to transfer their records to their iPhone — likely through Apple’s Health Records app. No time frame is mentioned and it’s hard to expect a quick turnaround given the VA’s stringent IT and security requirements. Another factor is that VA is making the long transition from VistA to Cerner’s MHS Genesis, bumpily. Mobihealthnews picking up a paywalled Wall Street Journal article.

Medtronic, otherwise known as the 9,000 lb Elephant that Sits Where It Wants, will acquire long-time diabetes partner Nutrino, an AI powered personalized nutrition platform. In June, Medtronic integrated Nutrino’s FoodPrint Report technology that connects meal and glucose variability into Medtronic’s iPro2 myLog app. Terms and timing were not disclosed. It fits in Medtronic’s recent strategy of smaller acquisitions and beefing up its diabetes business. Mobihealthnews.

Rounding up July: Teladoc’s new name and earnings, Hitching a Lyft, GlobalMed with FCC, Proteus and HIV sensing, Parks Associates, Welbeing

August 1, 2018 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Lasso.jpg” thumb_width=”125″ /] [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/teladochealth_logo_plumaqua_rgb.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Telemedicine giant Teladoc today formally unveiled its name and logo change to Teladoc Health. Citing its worldwide reach and a broad portfolio of services, CEO Jason Gorevic stated “…we will further accelerate the adoption of virtual care and enhance our technology-enabled services to make high-quality healthcare a reality for more people and organizations around the world.” The name will officially change on 10 August but there is no change in their NYSE ticker symbol TDOC. Release on MarketWatch  Their earnings call on Wednesday reported a second quarter loss of $0.37 per share which was substantially less than the projected $0.43. Revenue was $94.56 million for the quarter ended June 2018, more than double that of CY 2017. Zacks.com

The burgeoning area of non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) got a Lyft with the publishing of two studies indicating reductions in costs and no-shows. Lyft rideshare partner Hitch Health which integrates EHR data, to identify patients, worked over 12 months with the Hennepin Healthcare internal medicine clinic in Minneapolis. The no-show rate dropped from 31 percent to 22.5 percent, with an estimated increase in revenue of $270,000. In Camden, NJ, Rideshare worked with a branch of the MD Anderson Cancer Clinic to schedule on-demand transportation, reducing direct transportation costs by 30 percent with the service and no-show rate down to four percent. Mobihealthnews

GlobalMed, a previous Perspectives contributor, was represented by its CEO on a four-person panel discussing the FCC ‘s proposed Connected Care Pilot Program, a new $100 million program to support telehealth for low-income Americans, attended by  FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. Here’s a video from the 24 July meeting. Hat tip to Marcia Rhodes of Amendola Communications

Proteus Digital Health’s sensor-equipped pills, transmitter patch, and app may have a new market with prophylaxis (PrEP) treatments for the prevention of HIV transmission. A study by University of California, San Diego researchers with Truvada (Gilead Sciences) found that the sensor-equipped drug was well-received by most users and pharmacokinetically equivalent to Truvada alone. Proteus is the first FDA-approved digital ingestion tracking system with Abilify MyCite [TTA 14 Nov 17]. Mobihealthnews

Parks Associates has two upcoming opportunities for speakers at their hosted events at two large conferences. Click on the links for more information:

CONNECTIONS Europe: Strategies for Smart Home & Consumer IoT – Deadline: 1 Sept
Amsterdam – 13-14 Nov 2018  Event website

CONNECTIONS Summit at CES – Deadline: 15 Sept 2018
Las Vegas – 8 Jan 2019  Call for papers and more information.  

Welbeing in the UK announced on Wednesday 1 Aug their Rehabilitation Project in Cumbria. The program is designed to help patients who have had a fall or similar trauma leading to a hospital stay. When they are discharged, patients can now receive Welbeing’s alarm service for up to 13 weeks, free of charge. The service is being funded by Eden District Council. Welbeing recently acquired Eden Housing Association’s alarm and response services in Eden and Carlisle. (Link to press release to come)

International acquisition roundup: Doro and Welbeing; Teladoc and Advance Medical

June 7, 2018 | by

Two international telecare/telehealth/telemedicine M&A deals made the news this last week.

Sweden’s Doro AB acquired Welbeing, headquartered in Eastbourne UK. Welbeing (formally Wealden and Eastbourne Lifeline) is a telecare provider of home-based personal alarms which supports about 75,000 residents in local systems. Their revenue in last fiscal year (ending 9/17) was £7.6 million (SEK 90m). Doro operates in the UK and about 40 countries, with a core business in mobile phones specially designed for older adults. Their Doro Care solutions provide digital telecare and social services for older adults and the disabled in the home. Doro is paying SEK 130 million (£11.1 million) for the acquisition of Welbeing, equal to eight times estimated EBITDA for the financial year 2017/2018, with 85 percent cash and 15 percent in Doro shares with a bonus based on financial performance. Release 

Making a few headlines in the US is telemedicine leader Teladoc’s purchase of Barcelona’s Advance Medical for a hefty $352 million, giving Teladoc a major international footprint especially valuable for its corporate clients and major payers. Advance Medical provides complete telemedicine services in 125 countries in over 20 languages. Even more valuable is their knowledge of local healthcare delivery systems, global expert medical opinion, and chronic care. The acquisition also gives Teladoc an international network of offices and a significant entreé with international health insurance companies. Mobihealthnews, Seeking Alpha (Teladoc investor slideshow)

Some quick, cheerful updates from Welbeing, CarePredict, Tunstall, Tynetec, Hasbro, Fitbit

November 10, 2017 | by

It’s Friday, and in search of cheerful topics, here are some updates on doings from telecare, telehealth, and related companies we’ve recently noted on TTA:

Welbeing‘s opened a new head office at Technology Business Park in Moy Avenue in Eastbourne….CarePredict‘s AI for ADL system using the Tempo wearable has new implementations at LifeWell Senior Living’s community in Santa Fe, New Mexico (their third with CarePredict) and a three-year commitment with the Avanti Towne Lake community, Cypress, Texas. Dave Muoio has an interview with CEO Satish Movva on Mobihealthnews….Tunstall is partnering with Milpitas, California-based noHold’s Albert bot to create a virtual assistant for Tunstall’s mobile Smart Hub product, currently in Australia and in trials in Europe and the USA….Tynetec (advert above) has been closely associated and fundraised with the Dementia Dog Project and DogsforGood. An article in the Express highlights both in the beneficial role of pets with Alzheimers and dementia sufferers…. In robotic pet news, Hasbro is upgrading its ‘Joy for All’ companion pets through a Brown University research program, Affordable Robotic Intelligence for Elderly Support (ARIES) to add medication reminders, basic artificial intelligence, and more (Mobihealthnews)….Fitbit continues its march to a clinicalized product touting diabetes management partnerships with Medtronic and DexCom, plus clinical trials detecting sleep apnea through its SpO2 sensor. 3rd quarter sales were up 23 percent to $244 million and 40 percent from repeat purchasers, but they took an $8 million loss from a distributor (MedCityNews).

Welbeing’s expansion on BBC Norfolk, Tunstall’s #MarysVIPHome Christmas (UK)

January 4, 2017 | by

We start the New Year off we hope in the right way with some good news on telecare expansion and media coverage, traditional and social, versus the gloominess that dominated 2016.

Welbeing, which has become one of the larger telecare providers in the UK from its Eastbourne and Wealden Council roots, was the subject of a feature on Nick Conrad’s breakfast show on BBC Radio Norfolk. This focused on their East Anglia expansion to 4,500 new customers acquired from Flagship Home, with phone-ins by an operator from their new call center in Dereham, a local Welbeing customer and a representative from Norfolk County Council. Welbeing has been on a recent tear with acquisitions in East Sussex, Cumbria, Stonewater and with Muir Housing, cresting their total users to more than 70,000. Of late there’s been a lot of downbeat feelings about the fate of telecare in the UK, so it’s refreshing to hear an upbeat local story for a change. News release. Hat tip to Charlene Saunders, marketing manager of Welbeing. 

Tunstall in UK has also developed a smart home type test bed in a sheltered housing flat to showcase how existing TECS kit, Tunstall’s and others, can be combined in everyday living. Smart home demos to interested parties may be old news, but Tunstall is cleverly using social media marketing to build it up. It’s hashtagged #MarysVIPHome with updates on Twitter. There are also has five demo videos on YouTube which show how a family can observe activity/ADLs without intrusion, plus connect the resident to care, improve their socialization and remotely control the home environment. This Editor saw it on a LinkedIn post before the holidays from Tunstall’s Adrian Scaife thanking their visitors and wishing us a Mary Christmas. Now we hope to see more of a narrative about a real Mary living there and using all that TECS. It’s a nice start to what we hope is an innovative 2017.

Award given to retiring alarm dog (UK)

July 5, 2013 | by

Heartwarming story of Jara, a 15 year old Labrador/Collie cross, who was trained nine years ago by the Dog Aid charity to help his owner Kerrie whenever she has a seizure. As soon as one occurs he pulls an alarm cord in her flat that alerts her telecare control centre which then sends assistance. As well as sounding the alarm Jara is trained to fetch Kerrie’s medication and to bring a special ball on a rope which he can use to help pull Kerrie upright as she comes out of a fit. But now he is ‘retiring’ and has been given an award by the telecare provider Welbeing. (Good for them!) Full story: ‘Alarm’ Dog Jara Given Welbeing Retirement Award.

Related: Previous TTA alarm dog item, May 2012.