PerfectServe Acquires Lightning Bolt and CareWire, Reinforces Vision of Care Team Collaboration Platform

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 5, 2019 ­/PRNewswire/ -- PerfectServe, a leading provider of cloud-based clinical communication and collaboration (CC&C) solutions, today announced the acquisitions of Lightning Bolt Solutions, an AI-optimized physician shift scheduling technology for hospitals and health systems, and CareWire, a mobile patient engagement platform. These standout solutions are critical components of PerfectServe's effort to deliver the industry's first true care team collaboration platform – one that overcomes the persistent care coordination challenges that exist across a patient's healthcare ecosystem.

The news follows PerfectServe's recent acquisition of Telmediq, the top-rated KLAS vendor for secure communication platforms in 2018 and 2019, to bring together the most comprehensive set of CC&C capabilities on the market. The addition of Lightning Bolt and CareWire builds upon the company's strategy to unify the entire care team across the continuum, from inpatient, to outpatient, to patients at home.

"CC&C is the cornerstone of our care team collaboration strategy. Adding Lightning Bolt and CareWire extends our ability to overcome barriers and workflow problems that have surrounded our core domain for years," said Terry Edwards, President and CEO, PerfectServe. "With fewer barriers, PerfectServe can better pursue its goal to help doctors, nurses and other care team members connect, communicate and collaborate more effectively by delivering timely and relevant information to the point of care."

Founded in 2002 and based in San Francisco, California, Lightning Bolt is an AI-enabled solution that takes into account physician preferences, recurring meetings and appointment utilization to automatically generate the best possible shift schedule. With this ability to automatically generate optimized schedules and respond flexibly to changes, the solution improves patient access and helps to reduce physician burnout by improving work-life balance. Lightning Bolt manages more than three million physician hours each month, is responsible for tens of millions of dollars in ROI for its clients, supports a 97 percent staff retention rate and improves provider and facility utilization.

"PerfectServe's commitment to interoperability, outcomes and collaboration across the patient's entire healthcare ecosystem is inspiring," said Suvas Vajracharya, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Lightning Bolt Solutions. "Empowering the PerfectServe and Telmediq solutions with our AI-driven physician workforce management capabilities will reduce the administrative burden of scheduling, further optimize communication workflows and increase the timeliness of patient care by improving access."

"The advantages of coupling Lightning Bolt's best-in-class physician scheduling solution with PerfectServe's care team collaboration platform are obvious," said Jeri Hamilton, Director of Physician Services, Anesthesia Partners of Dallas (Texas). "Lightning Bolt helped us to distribute physician workload equally while meeting our goals for care access. Enhancing this solution with PerfectServe's communication efficiency and patient engagement capabilities is a big win for providers and patients alike."

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Excelsior, Minnesota, CareWire uses SMS texting—the most widespread communication method—to drive patient engagement. By using text messages, the solution reaches patients and family caregivers of any age and socioeconomic status without requiring an app download or a password. CareWire is currently deployed in 10,000 care locations, where it optimizes the care experience across 42,000 patient interactions per day. Combining care navigation assistance with social determinants of health data, CareWire drives better clinical outcomes, reduced cost and readmissions, and improved chronic care management. Overall patient satisfaction also benefits from this more accessible approach to care coordination.

"CareWire serves as an ideal complement to the PerfectServe and Telmediq CC&C solutions because it unites patients—and their family members—with the clinicians who care for them across all service settings, providers and networks," said David Nichols, founder and COO of CareWire. "In addition, our ability to implement the solution in four to six weeks and immediately reach 85 percent of patients upon deployment will drive rapid improvements in care delivery for our mutual clients."

"We've partnered with CareWire on patient engagement initiatives that have improved operational measures and overall patient satisfaction," said Tammie Steinard, RN, BS, BSN, MHA, ONC, Vice President of Surgical Services, Ascension Michigan Market. "By using this technology to prioritize patient follow up, we've also improved the effectiveness of our nursing staff. We hope to continue to find new ways to use this tool to improve the health of our patients now that CareWire is part of the larger PerfectServe enterprise."

Vajracharya and Nichols have both joined the PerfectServe leadership team. Vajracharya will continue to lead the Lightning Bolt business, while Nichols will drive the company's patient and family engagement product direction.

Learn more about how PerfectServe is building the care team collaboration platform of the future at this year's Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference and exhibition in Orlando. From February 11 to 15, visit PerfectServe at booth #1113, Telmediq at booth #6643 and Lightning Bolt at booth #2393.

About PerfectServe®
PerfectServe is building healthcare's most advanced communication and collaboration solution to unify the entire care team across the continuum—from inpatient, to outpatient, to patients at home. The secure platform uses advancements in mobility, AI and analytics to optimize scheduling, automate clinicians' communication-driven workflows, eliminate non-clinical tasks and decrease clinician burnout, resulting in quicker time to treatment and superior patient outcomes. PerfectServe's scalable cloud-based architecture is not affected by on-site outages, allowing the 500,000-plus clinicians who rely on the platform for clinical communication to focus on delivering the best patient experience possible. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, PerfectServe has helped clinicians provide better care since 2000.

About Lightning Bolt Solutions
Lightning Bolt Solutions is the leading provider of AI-optimized physician shift scheduling technology. Founded in 2002, the company has developed deep domain expertise in the areas of physician workflow, hospital operations, artificial intelligence and professional balance. Managing more than three million physician hours each month, Lightning Bolt is the trusted solution for hospitals and health systems working to align the interests of their physicians and facilities to promote work-life balance, productivity and patient access.

About CareWire
CareWire partners with healthcare organizations—including hospitals, health systems, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, insurance companies and retail healthcare companies—to deliver a comprehensive mobile communication solution that keeps patients on track with their plan of care and keeps care teams up to date. CareWire also integrates with other IT solution providers, acting as the "engine" that helps deliver on that last mile of patient engagement.

PerfectServe Contact:
Matt Kothe
Corporate Communications Specialist
865.212.9344
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Beth Friedman
Founder and CEO
678.956.9680
[email protected]

SOURCE PerfectServe

Related Links

http://www.perfectserve.com