Netherlands-based operator KPN has bought integration and data management firm Itzos, which will now operate within KPN Health.

Itzos, which is described as a provider of integration and data management solutions for healthcare, will be run as an independent company within KPN Health following the purchase, and the current management team ‘will also be part of this.’

KPN did not disclose how much it paid for the firm, but the integrating it into KPN health is apparently all part of its ambitions to connect data between different healthcare based systems, supposedly making collaboration and information sharing easier. It’s service, KPN Health Exchange, is designed to allow healthcare institutions to make information accessible to patients, healthcare professionals and eHealth applications ‘in a secure and standardized manner.’

Access to healthcare data plays an important role in keeping healthcare accessible and future-proof,” said Vinood Mangroelal, director of KPN Health. “With the KPN Health Exchange we facilitate this data exchange in a secure and standardized manner. KPN and Itzos have been working together for some time on the KPN Health Exchange, with Itzos mainly focusing on data management and integration.

“With the additional expertise and solutions of Itzos, we enrich our KPN Health Exchange services and accelerate the movement towards standardized and scalable platforms. Together with Itzos, we see opportunities to respond even better to the increasing demand from the market for digital data exchange that contributes to the further digitization of healthcare.”

Mark van Dijk, director of Itzos added: “KPN has the technological expertise and industry-leading infrastructure to increase the scalability of our solutions to meet the growing market demand for data exchange services. With this acquisition, KPN Health offers us a future-proof basis for the further development and operational management of our services.”

How tech can be employed to provide benefits to the healthcare sector is a subject often touched upon when firms wax lyrically about the potential benefits of 5G and sketch out often vague descriptions of the future ‘smart cities’ that ubiquitous IoT devices will enable. What KPN Health Exchange and Itzos seem to be focussed on is the more practical end of this trend – making sure data can actually be shared between various systems and institutions without it becoming a right mess.

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