07.22.21
Rank: #30 (Last year: n/a)
$2.88 Billion
Prior Fiscal: $2.91 Billion
Percentage Change: -0.9%
No. of Employees: 10,000
Global Headquarters: Chicago, Ill.
KEY EXECUTIVES:
John P. Groetelaars, President and CEO
Barbara W. Bodem, CFO
Francisco Canal, President, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Amy Dodrill, President, Global Surgical Solutions
Andreas G. Frank, President, Front Line Care
Paul S. Johnson, President, Patient Support Systems
Jessica Smith, Ph.D., VP, Regulatory Affairs
Janet Stevens, VP, Quality Assurance
Mark Wallwork, President, Asia Pacific
Hillrom makes a return to the top company list after a hiatus last year. While experiencing a slight dip from its previous year’s fiscal, the firm’s 2020 report keeps the company relatively consistent in terms of sales to where it’s been for the last several years. Down by less than a percentage point versus the prior year, Hillrom’s latest fiscal tally of $2.88 billion was off slightly from its company high of $2.91 billion in 2019. While gains in its two larger segments were positive, the unfortunate substantial losses in its third business resulted in the overall loss for the year.
Specifically, Patient Support Systems rose 3.3 percent year-over-year to finish at $1.54 billion (up from $1.49 billion). The increase was driven primarily by global sales growth for intensive care unit and med-surg beds, increased U.S. rental revenues primarily due to COVID-19, and recent acquisitions.
Within Hillrom’s Front Line Care unit, the growth was 4.8 percent compared to 2019’s fiscal. This was represented in real figures by $1.03 billion versus $978 million. That increase was primarily driven by non-invasive ventilator sales under U.S. federal and state government contracts, as well as growth internationally in patient monitoring and physical assessment tools primarily related to COVID-19.
The challenge for the firm originated from Surgical Solutions, which dropped by 27.8 percent ($317 million from a previous $439 million). While losses here were partially due to deferred elective surgical procedures during the early part of the pandemic, the majority of the decrease was attributed to the divestiture of Hillrom’s surgical consumable business. This took place just before the start of the 2020 fiscal (August 2019).
Seeking to strengthen its core focus, however, Hillrom made several strategic acquisitions in 2020 to benefit from future growth opportunities. While the purchase price for all three companies was only a little less than $30 million, the digital health functionality that come with them represent focus areas for Hillrom.
The largest buy of the three (at $13.1 million) was Excel Medical. The capabilities acquired were the ability to improve clinical workflow as well as enable better access to real-time patient data and predictive analytics. Hillrom currently promotes the solution as “a vendor-agnostic, comprehensive data acquisition and storage platform, for cardiac monitoring systems and medical devices.”
The other two procurements were also made to bolster the digital health offerings of the organization. Hillrom first onboarded its $7.5 million purchase of Connecta Soft, S.A. de C.V., which provides capabilities to capture vital signs data and provide patient monitoring visualization in acute care settings. Videomed, on the other hand, cost $7.8 million to add operating room integration and real-time video and data management capability to improve clinical workflows, standardize setup, reduce time in the OR, and enhance safety to the firm’s portfolio.
In addition to affecting future growth through acquisition, Hillrom also expanded its product portfolio with a number of announcements.
It launched the Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 4400, an easy-to-use vital signs device ideal for ambulatory and emergency department settings. With its critical blood-pressure averaging feature, the unit helps quickly and accurately detect hypertension while digitally capturing other key vitals—temperature, pulse rate, and pulse oximetry—in less than one minute. Vitals information can easily be sent to the patient's electronic medical record.
It also brought to market the Hillrom Extended Care Solution—a new, connected remote vital signs monitoring device that allows clinicians to shift care closer to home. To ensure caregiver access to data-driven information, this solution combines the aforementioned Spot Vital Signs 4400 device with a patient app and clinician review portal to help extend patient care beyond the walls of a healthcare facility.
In July 2020, Hillrom launched two respiratory health products—Volara System for oscillation and lung expansion (OLE) therapy and Synclara Cough System. The Volara System delivers OLE therapy through a combination of continuous positive expiratory pressure, continuous high-frequency oscillation, and a nebulizer in one portable, lightweight device. The respiratory therapies delivered are suitable for a number of acute and chronic conditions, including post-operative pulmonary complications, that are treated both in acute care settings and at home.
The Synclara Cough System is a non-invasive therapy that simulates a cough to remove secretions in patients with compromised peak cough flow. The device uses mechanical insufflation-exsufflation technology to clear secretions from the upper airways, representing the most complete solution available to assist patients with vital secretion evacuation.
Hillrom also announced the full commercial launch of the PST 500, a precision surgical table, and an addition to the Yellofins Stirrups line—Yellofins Apex. The PST 500 features the versatility of a wide range of positions across various surgical applications to help surgical teams expand procedural capabilities. Its safety features include a 1,000-pound weight capacity, collision monitoring, a self-leveling floor locking system, and a light-messaging system to help combat alarm fatigue.
The Yellowfins Apex stirrups represent enhanced safety, with a dual-rod design that prevents medial leg drop, and automatic position-locking technology to safely position the patient while protecting both the patient and the surgical team. In addition, the stirrups offers greater ease-of-use with single-point boot release capabilities, alleviating the need for heavy lifting.
In April 2020, Hillrom announced the availability of five innovations specifically indicated to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the announced solutions was the previously covered Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 4400 with Extended Care Solution to enable remote vital signs monitoring.
In addition, the company gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to adapt its MetaNeb System. The MetaNeb System combines lung expansion, secretion clearance, and aerosol delivery into a single integrated therapy session and can be used with any ventilator.
The organization also integrated digital respiratory rate capture capabilities into its Welch Allyn Connex Spot Monitor. This technological advance can empower care teams to accurately monitor the respiratory rate of COVID-19 patients and could lead to earlier detection and intervention.
Hillrom created and deployed a simple, cloud-hosted version of its Voalte mobile solution, a method for allowing caregivers and patients in field hospitals to communicate. Voalte Extend software empowers patients by giving them the ability to send a message from a mobile device directly to their nurse. The secure, Azure Cloud-based, ready-to-go solution could be deployed quickly using remote tools.
Further, the company partnered with AgileMD to offer constantly updated COVID-19 clinical pathways from leading centers managing these critical patients. With clinical recommendations changing daily and staff turning over quickly due to exposure and illness, instant access to advanced COVID-19 clinical pathways and predictive analytics through existing physician and nursing workflows empowered providers to quickly implement best practices for evidence-based, consistent care.
In addition to the expanded offerings Hillrom offered for healthcare professionals battling the COVID-19 virus, it also substantially increased (i.e., more than doubled) production of critical care products that were in such high demand. This increase included ventilators, hospital beds, and vitals monitoring devices.
$2.88 Billion
Prior Fiscal: $2.91 Billion
Percentage Change: -0.9%
No. of Employees: 10,000
Global Headquarters: Chicago, Ill.
KEY EXECUTIVES:
John P. Groetelaars, President and CEO
Barbara W. Bodem, CFO
Francisco Canal, President, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Amy Dodrill, President, Global Surgical Solutions
Andreas G. Frank, President, Front Line Care
Paul S. Johnson, President, Patient Support Systems
Jessica Smith, Ph.D., VP, Regulatory Affairs
Janet Stevens, VP, Quality Assurance
Mark Wallwork, President, Asia Pacific
Hillrom makes a return to the top company list after a hiatus last year. While experiencing a slight dip from its previous year’s fiscal, the firm’s 2020 report keeps the company relatively consistent in terms of sales to where it’s been for the last several years. Down by less than a percentage point versus the prior year, Hillrom’s latest fiscal tally of $2.88 billion was off slightly from its company high of $2.91 billion in 2019. While gains in its two larger segments were positive, the unfortunate substantial losses in its third business resulted in the overall loss for the year.
Specifically, Patient Support Systems rose 3.3 percent year-over-year to finish at $1.54 billion (up from $1.49 billion). The increase was driven primarily by global sales growth for intensive care unit and med-surg beds, increased U.S. rental revenues primarily due to COVID-19, and recent acquisitions.
Within Hillrom’s Front Line Care unit, the growth was 4.8 percent compared to 2019’s fiscal. This was represented in real figures by $1.03 billion versus $978 million. That increase was primarily driven by non-invasive ventilator sales under U.S. federal and state government contracts, as well as growth internationally in patient monitoring and physical assessment tools primarily related to COVID-19.
The challenge for the firm originated from Surgical Solutions, which dropped by 27.8 percent ($317 million from a previous $439 million). While losses here were partially due to deferred elective surgical procedures during the early part of the pandemic, the majority of the decrease was attributed to the divestiture of Hillrom’s surgical consumable business. This took place just before the start of the 2020 fiscal (August 2019).
Seeking to strengthen its core focus, however, Hillrom made several strategic acquisitions in 2020 to benefit from future growth opportunities. While the purchase price for all three companies was only a little less than $30 million, the digital health functionality that come with them represent focus areas for Hillrom.
The largest buy of the three (at $13.1 million) was Excel Medical. The capabilities acquired were the ability to improve clinical workflow as well as enable better access to real-time patient data and predictive analytics. Hillrom currently promotes the solution as “a vendor-agnostic, comprehensive data acquisition and storage platform, for cardiac monitoring systems and medical devices.”
The other two procurements were also made to bolster the digital health offerings of the organization. Hillrom first onboarded its $7.5 million purchase of Connecta Soft, S.A. de C.V., which provides capabilities to capture vital signs data and provide patient monitoring visualization in acute care settings. Videomed, on the other hand, cost $7.8 million to add operating room integration and real-time video and data management capability to improve clinical workflows, standardize setup, reduce time in the OR, and enhance safety to the firm’s portfolio.
In addition to affecting future growth through acquisition, Hillrom also expanded its product portfolio with a number of announcements.
It launched the Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 4400, an easy-to-use vital signs device ideal for ambulatory and emergency department settings. With its critical blood-pressure averaging feature, the unit helps quickly and accurately detect hypertension while digitally capturing other key vitals—temperature, pulse rate, and pulse oximetry—in less than one minute. Vitals information can easily be sent to the patient's electronic medical record.
It also brought to market the Hillrom Extended Care Solution—a new, connected remote vital signs monitoring device that allows clinicians to shift care closer to home. To ensure caregiver access to data-driven information, this solution combines the aforementioned Spot Vital Signs 4400 device with a patient app and clinician review portal to help extend patient care beyond the walls of a healthcare facility.
In July 2020, Hillrom launched two respiratory health products—Volara System for oscillation and lung expansion (OLE) therapy and Synclara Cough System. The Volara System delivers OLE therapy through a combination of continuous positive expiratory pressure, continuous high-frequency oscillation, and a nebulizer in one portable, lightweight device. The respiratory therapies delivered are suitable for a number of acute and chronic conditions, including post-operative pulmonary complications, that are treated both in acute care settings and at home.
The Synclara Cough System is a non-invasive therapy that simulates a cough to remove secretions in patients with compromised peak cough flow. The device uses mechanical insufflation-exsufflation technology to clear secretions from the upper airways, representing the most complete solution available to assist patients with vital secretion evacuation.
Hillrom also announced the full commercial launch of the PST 500, a precision surgical table, and an addition to the Yellofins Stirrups line—Yellofins Apex. The PST 500 features the versatility of a wide range of positions across various surgical applications to help surgical teams expand procedural capabilities. Its safety features include a 1,000-pound weight capacity, collision monitoring, a self-leveling floor locking system, and a light-messaging system to help combat alarm fatigue.
The Yellowfins Apex stirrups represent enhanced safety, with a dual-rod design that prevents medial leg drop, and automatic position-locking technology to safely position the patient while protecting both the patient and the surgical team. In addition, the stirrups offers greater ease-of-use with single-point boot release capabilities, alleviating the need for heavy lifting.
In April 2020, Hillrom announced the availability of five innovations specifically indicated to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the announced solutions was the previously covered Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 4400 with Extended Care Solution to enable remote vital signs monitoring.
In addition, the company gained emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to adapt its MetaNeb System. The MetaNeb System combines lung expansion, secretion clearance, and aerosol delivery into a single integrated therapy session and can be used with any ventilator.
The organization also integrated digital respiratory rate capture capabilities into its Welch Allyn Connex Spot Monitor. This technological advance can empower care teams to accurately monitor the respiratory rate of COVID-19 patients and could lead to earlier detection and intervention.
Hillrom created and deployed a simple, cloud-hosted version of its Voalte mobile solution, a method for allowing caregivers and patients in field hospitals to communicate. Voalte Extend software empowers patients by giving them the ability to send a message from a mobile device directly to their nurse. The secure, Azure Cloud-based, ready-to-go solution could be deployed quickly using remote tools.
Further, the company partnered with AgileMD to offer constantly updated COVID-19 clinical pathways from leading centers managing these critical patients. With clinical recommendations changing daily and staff turning over quickly due to exposure and illness, instant access to advanced COVID-19 clinical pathways and predictive analytics through existing physician and nursing workflows empowered providers to quickly implement best practices for evidence-based, consistent care.
In addition to the expanded offerings Hillrom offered for healthcare professionals battling the COVID-19 virus, it also substantially increased (i.e., more than doubled) production of critical care products that were in such high demand. This increase included ventilators, hospital beds, and vitals monitoring devices.