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Vocera, a company that specializes in instant communication among clinicians through the use of voice-activated wireless communication badges, has filed for an initial public offering of $80M.
The company’s technology, a small badge worn by physicians and nurses, allows for immediate communication within healthcare facilities. The badge, which acts as a “push-to-talk” communication device without the push button, allows clinicians to reach each other when phone calls, faxes or emails aren’t immediate enough. The idea is to reduce the amount of time that nurses and other medical staff spend walking around a hospital, reducing labor costs in the process.
For example, according to a study in 2004, the use of Vocera badges saved a 300-bed hospital over 3,400 hours a year. At an estimated $100 an hour including benefits, savings added up to over $340,000 a year in a single facility. Vocera’s badges have been available for a decade now and the company recently launched mobile apps for its own smartphone as well as Blackberry, iOS and Android.
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Looking at the company’s IPO, its S-1 filing revealed revenues of $56.8 million in 2009, up 38% from the previous year. Volume for the first half of this year topped out at $37.4 million, a 46% increase from the prior-year period, yet profitability has been lacking. The company posted its first profit just last year, earning $1.2M. In the first 6 months of this year, however, the company lost over $1.3M compared to a gain of $2.2 million for the first half of 2010.
In addition to continued development of its technology, Vocera also said it expects to pay down nearly $9.3 million in debt from the proceeds of the IPO. “We expect our expenses to increase due to the hiring of additional personnel and the additional operational and reporting costs associated with being a public company,” Vocera said in the SEC document.
