Dive Brief:
- Former CEO of Practice Fusion, Ryan Howard, has announced a new company, iBeat, that will manufacture wearable heart monitoring technology.
- A wearable personal emergency response system (PERS) targeted to 50 to 70-year-olds will be iBeat's first product.
- The company will be led by former Practice Fusion employees - Larry Stone (software design and engineering), Brian Boarini (product and business development), and Kristin Tinsley (marketing and communications) - and has plans to double its employee number by the end of this year.
Dive Insight:
Howard said in a press release the idea for the company was founded after a close friend passed away at the age of 40. He will be applying what he learned at Practice Fusion.
The technology is a Wearable-as-a-Service device that constantly monitors and analyzes users' heart activity 24/7. If it detects a life-threatening emergency, it notifies the users' family and emergency responders to speed delivery of care and potentially save lives.
Howard founded Practice Fusion in 2005, which grew to be the largest EHR platform serving more than 110 million patients, according to the iBeat website.
Practice Fusion cut 25% of its workforce and said it was putting itself up for sale this February.