Our History — a Legacy of Innovation

Mediware was founded in 1970, and in 1980, the founding organization was purchased and incorporated under the name of Hemocare, Inc. It was then that the company began developing its specialized blood banking information system known as Hemocare. Ultimately, that system became the first of its kind to achieve FDA 510(k) clearance for use in securing the safety of the nation’s blood supply.

In July 1996, the company acquired the LifeLine product from Western Star, which, at the time, resulted in the combination of the two most dominant systems in the blood banking space. Through this combination, a new advanced blood management system known as Hemocare LifeLine (HCLL) was born. That system, now known as HCLL™ Transfusion, grew to become the industry’s leading blood management system and still holds that market-leading position today.

Branching Out

In 1990, the company acquired Digimedics, Inc., a pharmacy software company, and changed its name to Mediware Information Systems, Inc., to reflect its broader scope of services. Then, in 1996, the company acquired the Pharmakon division of Continental Healthcare Systems, including the JAC Pharmacy Stock Control System division located in the United Kingdom. With these acquisitions, Mediware more than doubled its presence in the pharmacy information systems space and gained entry into the European market.

Following shortly on the heels of that acquisition, in January 1997, Mediware introduced its WORx Drug Therapy Management System. The WORx system was uniquely designed to provide true, seamless integration with other systems, rather than rely on conventional data replication methods. Over time, the WORx® Suite has expanded to offer a complete, start-to-finish — closed loop — approach to Medication Management. It has become one of the dominant pharmacy systems on the market and is used by large acute care hospitals and behavioral health health systems. And, as a best-in-breed solution, the WORx Suite’s functionality and clinical features continue to far outpace other catalog offerings.

Pioneering Healthcare Informatics

Between 1997 and 2007, the company developed and delivered a series of new products focused on improving surgical and operating room processes, perioperative charting and donor management. Most notably, in November 1999, Mediware announced the purchase of the LifeTrak® blood donor software system developed by Carter BloodCare, Inc. Today, LifeTrak is FDA 510(k)-cleared and provides a comprehensive platform for donor, lab and distribution operations for some of the most recognizable blood centers and hospitals in the industry.

In 2007, Mediware reorganized and also acquired Integrated Marketing Services, a provider of web-based software products targeted at blood and plasma collection centers in North America and Europe. Now known as Mediware’s Blood Center Technologies, these productivity tools offer valuable solutions for donor recruiting, relationship management and loyalty and retention.

In June of this year, the company also launched its BloodSafe® Solution Suite for remote storage and allocation of blood products at the point of use. With the introduction of the BloodSafe Suite, Mediware became the only provider to offer remote storage and allocation devices with intelligent integration to a hospital transfusion system.

In early 2008, Mediware introduced BiologiCare®, the first system of its kind to track and manage transplantable materials. In November 2008, Mediware announced the acquisition of Hann’s on Software, and the Ascend pharmacy management software used in smaller hospitals and specialty pharmacy providers. This acquisition combined with a later acquisition of Healthcare Automation, Inc., in December 2009, led to the creation of Mediware’s Alternate Care Solutions product line. These products build and expand on Mediware’s rich heritage in Medication Management to serve the home infusion, specialty pharmacy and other alternate care markets.

Revolutionizing

In June 2009, Mediware acquired SciHealth, a clinical and business intelligence software company, expanding the company’s reach to the broader healthcare market. The InSight Performance Management™ solution is already in use by some of the nation’s most prestigious healthcare organizations. It provides a single source of truth and data transparency across the healthcare enterprise.

In March 2010, the company acquired KnowledgeForge and added KnowledgeTrak, an all-in-one solution for training, compliance, quality, and document management, to its Blood Management product lines for use in hospitals and blood centers.

In 2012 Mediware expanded on our core expertise with three strategic acquisitions. The first, in January, added domain expertise in Cellular Therapy Solutions through the acquisition of Transtem, LLC, a provider of software that manages the collection and transplantation of cord blood and adult stem cells in cellular-based therapies and medical research. This strategic acquisition continues the company's expansion of its Blood Management expertise into a rapidly growing field that includes cancer treatment and regenerative medicine.

In March, we acquired product and expertise targeting chemotherapy drug and treatment management with acquisition of the Cyto Management System (or CMS) from Cobbler BV in the Netherlands. While the CMS solution will initially only be sold in Europe and the United Kingdom (through our JAC subsidiary), the focus on the unique characteristics of chemotherapy drug management is a natural extension of our combined medication management expertise.

And in August, Mediware acquired Strategic Healthcare Group (SHG), a consultancy currently focused on establishing blood management programs to improve patient safety by managing the use of blood based on clinical evidence and best practices. SHG’s offering includes consulting services, education and an informatics solution that has helped customers reduce blood use (and cost) by between 13 and 30 percent.

Establishing a Platform for Growth

In November of 2012, Mediware completed a merger agreement with Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity firm with a 30+ year history of providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams and growing companies. The merger allowed Mediware to return to being a private company focused on growth and pioneering innovation in healthcare technology that improve patient care while creating operational efficiencies that drive down costs.