Key Takeaways

• Digital Health Intelligence (DHI) has sold its event and news businesses to CloserStill Media while retaining its intelligence division.
• The flagship event, Digital Health Rewired, will continue under CloserStill and is set for March 2025 at Birmingham’s NEC.
• DHI’s founder, Jon Hoeksma, will lead the new Future Health Intelligence (FHI) focusing on developing AI insights for the NHS sector.

Deal Highlights and Future Plans

Digital Health Intelligence (DHI), a leading independent media enterprise based in London, has successfully sold its events, news, and networks sectors to CloserStill Media, a rapidly growing producer of business conferences and exhibitions. The intelligence segment of DHI will remain intact and transition into a new entity named Future Health Intelligence (FHI), which continues to be overseen by DHI founder Jon Hoeksma.

The transaction encompasses DHI’s iconic event, Digital Health Rewired, described as the UK’s foremost digital health conference. Since its inception in 2019, Rewired has drawn over 3,700 delegates each year, fostering connections among NHS IT leaders, health technology providers, and service suppliers. The next edition of Rewired is set to unfold at the NEC in Birmingham on March 18-19, 2025.

In addition to Rewired, the acquisition further incorporates Digital Health News—recognized as the leading health IT news service—and Digital Health Networks, which includes a vibrant community of over 7,500 NHS IT leaders. This network also hosts the well-regarded Summer Schools annual event, recognized as a premier gathering for health IT leadership in the UK.

DHI has established a decade-long reputation for delivering high-quality content and events within the health IT domain, with both Rewired and Summer Schools emerging as top events in the industry. Jon Hoeksma will retain his position as chairman of the Digital Health operations, collaborating closely with CloserStill Media on future initiatives.

Hoeksma articulated the rationale for the sale, expressing pride in the achievements of the Digital Health team in establishing Rewired as the industry leader in just five years. He acknowledged that to further expand these achievements, partnership with a more extensive organization like CloserStill, which brings additional resources and expertise, is essential.

Matthew Butler, the group managing director at CloserStill Media, shared his enthusiasm for the acquisition, emphasizing the remarkable work done by the DHI team in creating the leading event for the UK digital health sector. He voiced optimism about leveraging the existing foundation to explore new growth avenues.

The primary DHI team will join CloserStill Media and remain dedicated to enhancing the upcoming Rewired event. Meanwhile, FHI will assume responsibility for DHI’s intelligence assets, which include the recently launched Bevan AI platform.

Hoeksma will take the helm at FHI while continuing as chairman of DHI, ensuring smooth transitions for the next 18 months. He aims to concentrate on networks and the Rewired programme during this period. In his remarks, Hoeksma expressed excitement for the potential that FHI offers, highlighting the initial focus on developing core NHS databases and enhancing them with AI tools to provide deeper market insights and analysis.

As this transition unfolds, both organizations are poised for progressive development within the healthcare landscape, leveraging combined strengths to better serve the NHS and health technology sectors.

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