Vocera Communications to be Acquired at $3Billion by Stryker

Stryker announced plans for a $3 billion merger with Vocera Communications, a provider of clinical communication and workflow systems, on Thursday. According to business authorities, the provider of medical and surgical products would pay $79.25 per share for Vocera, for a total equity value of $2.97 billion and a total enterprise value of $3.09 billion, including convertible notes. Officials at Stryker said they’re interested in Vocera’s “very complementary and innovative portfolio” of solutions for connecting caregivers and “distributed data-generating medical devices,” with the goal of enhancing patient safety and results while also streamlining provider processes.

Vocera’s software and hardware for remote communication, in particular, will complement Stryker Advanced Digital Healthcare technologies, according to the business, and will assist clients reduce and prevent adverse occurrences across the care continuum. Stryker and Vocera’s boards of directors have unanimously authorised the deal, which is slated to completion in the first quarter of 2022, assuming regulatory approval.

This is the first multibillion-dollar health IT acquisition of 2022, just a week into the new year, following a hectic 2021 that saw plenty of M&A activity. Castlight Health’s merger with Vera Whole Health and Aetion’s acquisition of Replica Analytics are two other agreements reported thus far this year. Rhonda Collins, RN, Vocera’s chief nursing officer, recently shared her thoughts with Healthcare IT News in preparation for a 2022 preview and prediction piece.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, she hopes to see fresh attempts to address the major difficulties facing the healthcare workforce, which is fatigued. According to Collins, hospitals and health systems are dealing with “ongoing labour shortages, increasing workplace violence, and many other pressures affecting the safety and well-being of pandemic-weary healthcare personnel.”