Roche Strengthens Presence in Point-of-Care Information Management

Roche (Indianapolis, IN, USA) and Medical Automation Systems, Inc. (MAS; Charlottesville, VI, USA) have signed an agreement under which Roche will acquire all the assets associated with the RALS point-of-care (POC) information technology (IT) connectivity system, as well as the names "Medical Automation Systems," "MAS" and "RALS." As part of the transaction, Roche expects to retain substantially all of the MAS employees.

MAS pioneered the use of IT systems to improve the efficiency and regulatory compliance of hospital POC programs. The company's RALS POC IT connectivity system is used in over 2,000 hospitals in the United States.

As part of Roche, RALS will remain a vendor-neutral IT connectivity solution and Roche will continue to expand the number of device interfaces available, enabling customers to streamline POC management in their hospitals.

Roche Diagnostics develops and commercializes solutions in the field of serum-based laboratory and POC testing, including CoaguChek and ACCU-CHEK products used by healthcare professionals to monitor coagulation and blood glucose at the point of care. They are currently used with the RALS information management systems in healthcare facilities across the United States.

"As a global leader in POC testing, Roche is committed to helping improve the quality of patient care by providing products that support clinical decision-making," said Jack Phillips, president and CEO of Roche Diagnostics Corporation North America. "Information management plays an increasingly critical role to meet the growing needs of our POC customers. With this acquisition, we will build on our strategy to deliver integrated testing solutions to our customers."

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