The ECRI spin-off aims to connect data, planning, and operations to give healthcare technology managers a more strategic role.
By Alyx Arnett
Staritas launched last week as a spinout of ECRI, separating its spend management and recall management tools into a standalone company focused on supply chain data and analytics. For healthcare technology management (HTM) teams, the change centers on how those tools will be developed and used going forward, according to Stuart Morris-Hipkins, chief operating officer.
“At our core, Staritas helps organizations make more informed decisions so they can better manage all aspects of their healthcare supply chain,” Morris-Hipkins says. “For HTM leaders specifically, that means providing the data, insights, and guidance to support safe, informed decisions about medical equipment—whether it’s evaluating risk, advising on what to invest in or replace, and ensuring equipment is safe and effective across its lifecycle.”
Familiar Tools, Deeper Integration
Morris-Hipkins says the core tools will be familiar to many HTM teams, but the new company is focused on connecting them more directly to planning and operational decisions. These tools include the Biomedical Guide, which provides lifecycle guidance, maintenance strategies, and benchmarking data. They also encompass Recall Alerts + Automatch, a system that links recalls and hazard alerts directly to a facility’s inventory, and the Capital Guide, which offers pricing benchmarks and peer comparisons to support purchasing decisions.
The goal, he says, is to give teams a clearer, more consistent set of data to work from, particularly in areas like capital planning, equipment lifecycle decisions, and compliance.
“HTM teams aren’t just getting data,” Morris-Hipkins says. “They’re getting trusted, evidence-based tools for safe equipment management, paired with a clear, actionable path to improve performance and support defensible decisions across the entire network.”
From Reactive to Proactive Planning
A key problem Staritas aims to solve is the reactive nature of much of HTM work, which often stems from incomplete or inconsistent data, says Morris-Hipkins. He notes that many teams are still working with fragmented inventories, making it harder to plan replacements, respond to recalls, or assess cybersecurity risks effectively.
The first step, he says, is creating a standardized and validated equipment inventory. With that clean data foundation in place, teams can use tools like Predictive Replacement Planning to build long-term capital roadmaps based on a range of factors, including utilization, condition, and clinical context—not just the age of the device. This shift helps make capital requests more accurate and defensible.
“We’re solving for clarity, so decisions are grounded in real-world conditions, not assumptions,” he says.
Accelerating Innovation
Operating as a separate company allows Staritas to invest more in data and analytics and respond more quickly to market changes, according to Morris-Hipkins. He says that while the commitment to independent, evidence-based guidance remains, the new structure enables the company to focus more directly on operational decision support for its clients.
The change allows for tighter integration between strategy, data, and execution. For HTM teams, that means turning fragmented data into a validated inventory baseline and then linking that data directly to capital planning, cybersecurity, and operational decisions.
“This is a shift from providing insights to helping teams operationalize them,” he says.
A More Strategic Seat at the Table
Looking ahead, Morris-Hipkins says the ultimate goal is to help HTM teams evolve from a focus on service delivery to a more strategic, proactive role within the healthcare organization. This involves empowering teams to lead capital and operational decisions with data that aligns finance, clinical, and supply chain stakeholders.
He envisions a future where HTM departments maintain continuously updated inventories, forecast capital needs periodically rather than just annually, and can quantify risk, cost, and performance within a single framework. By providing data and insights that resonate at the executive level, the company aims to help HTM professionals clearly communicate their priorities and demonstrate their value.
“HTM teams are central to both patient safety and financial performance, but they’re often working with incomplete data and are reactive,” Morris-Hipkins says. The objective is to provide the tools for them to “operate more proactively and lead with clarity and confidence,” ultimately giving HTM “a stronger, more strategic seat at the table.”
The new company is backed by a growth investment from Accel-KKR. ECRI will continue its work in patient safety and technology assessment.
Photo caption: Staritas logo
Photo credit: Staritas
Alyx Arnett is chief editor of 24×7 Magazine. Questions or comments? Email [email protected].
