Orlando-based EASE App acquired for $25 million

Orlando-based EASE Applications has been acquired by the national clinical communications company Vocera for $25 million.

The application, which allows families to get regular updates from the operating and hospital rooms, was developed by four Orlando entrepreneurs, three of them physicians at Orlando Health, in 2013. The app was first used at the health system and has now grown to nearly 80 hospitals across the nation and 1.6 million sent messages.

As part of the acquisition, Vocera is issuing 60,000 shares of its stock to 11 EASE employees. It will also make two additional payments of $5 million each if EASE achieves certain financial metrics in 2021 and 2022. The Orlando team will continue managing operations.

The idea behind EASE, or Electronic Access to Surgical Events, is simple: it enables clinicians and operating room staff to send Snapchat-like updates to families. The app is compliant with patient privacy laws and messages disappear in 60 seconds. The app also provides secure video-conferencing.

“When a person undergoes surgery or is hospitalized for an infection or other illness, the patient and their loved ones often feel fear, anxiety and isolation. EASE helps reduce these burdens by providing needed connectivity and transparency, while allowing care teams to deliver the best care,” said Patrick de la Roza, chief executive officer of EASE, in a news release.

The app is free for patients. Hospitals pay a subscription fee, which is based on the number of operating rooms and beds.

In brief...

AdventHealth’s newest freestanding ER is now open in Lake Nona. The 19,000-square-foot facility has 24 patient rooms and adds to the health system’s growing footprint in Lake Nona, which includes Centra Care, medical practices and sports medicine and rehab. The health system has more ERs planned for Kissimmee, Clermont, the Lake Buena Vista area and Port Orange.

Rinehart Surgery Center, an affiliate of Orlando Health, has opened a 10,000 square foot facility in Lake Mary on the first floor of Orlando Health Medical Pavilion. The outpatient surgery center has three operating rooms and will provide services in orthopedics, gynecology, podiatry and retina. The medical pavilion opened in 2019 and sits next to a freestanding ER.

Forty-five community health centers in Florida received more than $6 million in quality improvement awards from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. In Central Florida, they include Health Care Center for the Homeless, which received $75,000, Community Health Centers with $95,000 and Primary Care Medical Services of Poinciana, which received more than $90,000.

“These awards help ensure that all patients who visit a HRSA-funded health center continue to receive the highest quality of care, including access to COVID-19 testing and treatment,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

Dr. Inoel Rivera, a board-certified urologist specializing in cancer, has joined the Urologic Cancer Center at Orlando Health UF Health Cancer Center. He was with AdventHealth previously.

Josh Smith is the new executive director of Legacy Pointe at UCF, an affiliated life care retirement community under construction near the university’s main campus. Smith is a graduate of UCF Rosen College of Hospitality and Management and Liberty University. Smith was previously executive director at Life Care Services and Brookdale Senior Living in Bradenton.

Orlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital has named Michael Mueller as the hospital’s new chief financial officer. He previously served as the CFO of Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital, and Doctors Health System and Director of Finance at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, IL. His fills a position that has been vacant for nearly four months.

Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, an national company with headquarters in Maitland, has named Allison Lynch as chief operating officer of its pathology division; Da Chang as chief operating officer and Justin Simoncini as Chief Strategy Officer.

nmiller@orlandosentinel.com.

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