SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Careteq Limited (ASX: CTQ) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the business and assets of New Medical Enterprises Pty Ltd trading as HMR Referrals for total consideration of $250k cash and $250k in ordinary shares at 2.5c per share.

Established in 2016, HMR Referrals is a marketplace platform that securely simplifies and streamlines the Home Medicines Review processes for GPs and accredited pharmacists.

Currently GPs not using HMR Referrals’ platform adopt inefficient processes such as fax or paper-based systems for the transmission of referrals to pharmacists and collection of the final Home Medicines Review reports.

In many circumstances, due to the inefficiency of current processes, many GPs don’t participate in the Government funded Home Medicines Review program and forego reimbursement opportunities.

HMR Referrals’ platform is a practice management software agent that seamlessly integrates with GPs’ software, connecting them directly with accredited pharmacists through the platform to deliver Home Medicines Reviews.

The platform is the first to market and is gaining rapid traction with GPs and pharmacists alike, with c.80 GP clinics, c.400 GPs and c.335 pharmacists currently using the marketplace platform. The revenue run rate is c.$300k p.a., up 200% over pcp.

Revenue is generated by charging an origination fee and submission fee to accredited pharmacists once a GP submits Home Medicines Review referrals to the platform.

Approximately 250k Australians are hospitalised each year because of medication error, misuse, and misadventure and another 400k presentations to emergency departments are likely to be due to medication-related problems.

This costs Australia approximately $1.4 billion in hospital admissions alone of which 50% of this harm is preventable. Over 90% of patients have at least one medication-related problem post-discharge from hospital.

One in five people are suffering an adverse medication reaction at the time they receive a Home Medicines Review.

The Home Medicines Review program was introduced into the Medical Benefits Schedule in October 2001 to support the quality use of medicines and reduce the incidence of medication misadventure which ultimately improves elderly health outcomes.

GPs are reimbursed for their referral through the Medical Benefits Scheme and pharmacists through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to establish a collaborative approach to medication management for each eligible patient.

Careteq’s EHS business undertakes residential medication management reviews, the equivalent of Home Medicines Reviews for the residential aged care market. HMR Referrals provides Careteq with a scalable marketplace platform to facilitate the delivery of Home Medicines Reviews in the home care market.

Careteq Executive Chairman, Mark Simari, said: The acquisition of HMR Referrals aligns with our medication management business as well as our health technology portfolio, creating a full service offering within our verticals. We believe that integrating HMR Referrals into Careteq will strengthen our market position and contribute to our long-term success.

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