Wolters Kluwer Health Announces the Acquisition of iCare Educational Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Software

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Health's unit Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) today announced the acquisition of iCare LLC, makers of iCare EMR, an educational Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software program. iCare EMR integrates a simulated electronic medical record into a learning tool for students to prepare future nurses for the demands of the evolving healthcare climate in the 21st century. The deal allows Wolters Kluwer Health to broaden its market-leading portfolio of EMR documentation and simulation support tools for nursing students, instructors and professionals.

The iCare EMR learning tool trains nursing students to manage the complex challenges of documenting care, patient safety, compliance and hospital efficiency. Designed to mirror the functionality of commercially available EMRs, iCare allows students to learn about EMR systems within the framework of their current educational curriculum both in the classroom and simulation environments.

"Currently, there are more than 3,000 nursing schools in the U.S., and only one percent of them provide students with access to EMRs," said Frank Mortimer, publisher for Nursing Education at Wolters Kluwer Health, Professional & Education. "This acquisition is an example of our continued commitment to provide nurses and educators with better evidence-based nursing practice information and resources, improving the quality of both instruction and patient care."

Nursing students can record and retrieve data pertinent to "care," such as physical assessments, vital signs and medication administration. Within the simulation education environment, nursing students can electronically document their "care" and then have that record available to them in all phases of the nursing curriculum. Nursing faculty can also build their own patient-care scenarios and evaluate students on documentation of physical assessments as well as general EMR documentation skills.

"iCare was built from the clinician's and educator's perspectives to provide an exceptionally intuitive and user-friendly, educationally-based EMR," said Tami Wyatt, PhD, RN, CNE and iCare co-founder. "iCare provides nursing students exposure in the use of health information technology at a time when accurate electronic documentation and the timely delivery of evidenced-based nursing care at the patient's bedside are crucial."

iCare Academic LLC is a Tennessee-based software company founded by professionals in the nursing education field dedicated to researching and designing an EMR for use in the educational environment. Like Wolters Kluwer Health, iCare's goal is to enhance the educational experiences of nursing students and better prepare them for successful careers in healthcare. The combination of iCare and Wolters Kluwer Health's Nursing Education provides a strong portfolio of products designed to more closely link what is learned in the classroom with what is required on the job.

"The acquisition of iCare will allow instructors and students to have complete integration of the textbook, the simulation lab and the classroom," said John J. Jordan, digital acquisitions editor for Nursing Education at Wolters Kluwer Health. "We see the iCare EMR as a key asset in our strategy to continuously evolve our education curriculum and tools and provide a key interface for future simulation products."

iCare will become part of Wolters Kluwer Health's Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), a leading medical publishing brand and online health profession resource. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. For more information on Wolters Kluwer Health, visit www.wolterskluwerhealth.com. For more information on iCare Academic LLC, visit www.icareacademic.com.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer Health (Philadelphia, PA) is a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy. Major brands include traditional publishers of medical and drug reference tools and textbooks, such as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; and electronic information providers, such as Ovid®, UpToDate®, Medi-Span®, Facts & Comparisons® and ProVation® Medical.

Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's leading, information-enabled tools and solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world.

Wolters Kluwer has 2009 annual revenues of euro 3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), employs approximately 19,300 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices.

About iCare LLC

iCare Academic LLC is a software company founded by professionals in the nursing education field dedicated to researching and designing an electronic medical record (EMR) for use in the educational environment. iCare's goal is to aid in exposing healthcare professional students to the navigation and use of healthcare informational technologies (HIT), enhancing their educational experience, and better preparing them for their careers in the healthcare industry. iCare is dedicated to doing business in an ethical, transparent way and highly values customer feedback and input at every stage of software development.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect", "should", "could", "shall", and similar expressions. Wolters Kluwer cautions that such forward-looking statements are qualified by certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from what is contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, general economic conditions; conditions in the markets in which Wolters Kluwer is engaged; behavior of customers, suppliers, and competitors; technological developments; the implementation and execution of new ICT systems or outsourcing; and legal, tax, and regulatory rules affecting Wolters Kluwer's businesses, as well as risks related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. In addition, financial risks such as currency movements, interest rate fluctuations, liquidity, and credit risks could influence future results. The foregoing list of factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Wolters Kluwer disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Health