Press Releases
For Immediate Release: January 15th, 2008
Krames Acquires wired.MD, Inc. and Library of over 415 Patient Education Videos
The Leader in Patient Education Expands Product Suite to include Industry-Leading Rich Media Library and Video Delivery Software
Krames, a division of MediMedia, has acquired wired.MD, a leading provider of video health education content delivered via its proprietary streaMedTM system to hospitals, health plans, universities, resource libraries, and technology companies producing video on-demand and electronic medical records systems for healthcare organizations. The wired.MD collection of 415 video programs is a perfect complement to the vast library of patient education Krames offers to the medical markets in both print and electronic formats.
“Krames has been looking to incorporate rich media into our product portfolio for quite some time,” explained George Parker, President and CEO of Krames. “However, we wanted to find the right content that would complement our commitment to providing the absolute best in evidence-based patient education created in consideration of Health Literacy Design Principles. We found it in wired.MD. For example, much of the wired.MD video content is produced in multiple languages including English, Spanish, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, and Polish. These videos feature native-speaking medical professionals, so that they’re not overdubbed, but developed with cultural nuances. It is these seemingly subtle nuances that differentiate superior content from the ordinary by having a greater impact on the viewer.”
wired.MD was founded in 2000 by Mark Friess and John Friess who realized that emerging technology was going to make it feasible to bring high quality health education content to the point of care cost effectively. The wired.MD streaMed system was developed as an on-demand patient education solution that could be delivered over the internet to the hospital bedside, resource libraries, and exams rooms. Because streaMed is both resource rich and easy to use, wired.MD experienced quick growth. As its industry footprint expanded, opportunities to provide video content for CCTV and On-Demand systems as well as for Electronic Medical Record solutions emerged. wired.MD also developed a custom production team that can produce custom videos on DVDs for clients.
Mark Friess will continue in his role as President of wired.MD overseeing the editorial, sales, and production teams that will remain in Portland, Oregon. “The acquisition by Krames presents so many opportunities to really expand upon what we started seven years ago,” stated Mr. Friess. “Because wired.MD and Krames share the same philosophy and commitment to patient education, I’m confident that we’ll be able to accelerate our growth as we bring our combined solutions to the marketplace. I’m very excited by the possibilities to help more people make better health decisions.”
About Krames
Founded in 1974, Krames (a division of MediMedia) is the market leader in patient education, wellness, and safety materials, producing over 1,500 titles in more than 36 specialty areas. Krames is the exclusive patient education publisher for American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and American Lung Association. Krames’ materials are used by over 80 percent of American hospitals and more than 1,000 health plans and employer groups, over 300,000 physicians and nurses in hospitals and private practices, and many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Print and electronic content/materials are created to help individuals understand and take control of their health choices and improve the quality of their lives. For more information, please visit www.krames.com
About MediMedia
Headquartered in Chatham, NJ, with over 1,600 employees in offices throughout the U.S. MediMedia’s products and services include integrated and comprehensive health management programs, patient education content, and applications purchased by healthcare stakeholders: physicians, patients, employers, hospitals, health plans and pharmaceutical companies. MediMedia’s pharmaceutical marketing group provides solutions for pharmaceutical companies along their entire marketing continuum, targeting physicians and patients with superior content and applications. MediMedia’s experience in delivering specialized information to targeted audiences has earned MediMedia unparalleled trust and respect throughout the industry. For more information, please visit www.medimedia.com
MediMedia is a Vestar Capital Partners portfolio company.
About wired.MD, Incorporated
wired.MD, Inc. was founded in Portland, Oregon in 2000. The company's mission is to empower healthcare professionals to improve patients' healthcare experience and reduce costs by making patient education more engaging, effective, and efficient to deliver. wired.MD is located at 520 NW Davis Street, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon, 97209, and can be contacted at (503) 889-0010, info@wired.md , or www.wired.md
