Milwaukee-based medical technology contract manufacturer
MPE Inc. has sold its digital medication management solutions business called
CAREDirect to a group of Milwaukee investors that includes
Matt Cordio, Skills Pipeline owner and Wisconsin Startup Coalition co-founder.
CAREDirect offers a digital medication management solution that enables health care organizations to securely store medication, track inventory, identify drug diversion events and provide compliance reports required by the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
The company develops and distributes its digital medication cabinet called Medserve, which features hardware for badge entry and several bins that can be locked based on their contents.
For example, narcotics or high-value meds can be double locked in one bin while another bin containing comfort medications can be customized for quick access, according to the company. Unique pin codes are used to help organizations track how and when medications are accessed.
CAREDirect’s digital medication cabinets are also accompanied by cloud-based software, enabling health care organizations to set access parameters based on medication type or a health care professional’s credentials, Cordio added.
“We’re taking a process that has been done with a key-locked cabinet and a paper log in most medical facilities and taking it to a digital process where health care providers can control access to medications,” Cordio said.
Founded in 2016, CAREDirect has installed its digital medication cabinets in more 170 ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, hospitals, rehab centers, and specialty health clinics across the country, according to the company.
Demand for medication management solutions has grown in the wake of the ongoing opioid epidemic, Cordio said, adding that CAREDirect is unique in that it makes its products accessible to small and midsize health care facilities.
"CAREDirect is the only cost-effective solution for smaller health care facilities to prevent drug diversion allowing the facility administration to digitally track and secure its inventory of opioids and other controlled substances,” Cordio said.
CAREDirect is a “spin-out” of what was formerly a small division in MPE, Cordio said, adding that MPE will continue to manufacture CAREDirect’s digital medication cabinets at its facility on the northwest side of Milwaukee.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
As part of the transaction, two former MPE employees joined CAREDirect, including MPE’s director of innovation
Nadder Sahar and
Kenneth Anderson, a former MPE employee who will lead CAREDirect’s head of sales and marketing.
In addition to Sahar, Anderson and Cordio, the investor group includes
2X Computers, LLC CEO and founder
Stephan Desmoulin, according to a press release.
MPE is a contract manufacturer specializing in medium volume production for medical and technology original equipment manufacturers. The company was founded in 1978 and is located in a 160,000-square-foot facility at 10597 W. Glenbrook Ct. on Milwaukee’s far northwest side.
Private equity firm Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Co.
acquired MPE in 2019.
