Dive Brief:
- Merck subsidiary StayWell has acquired Portland, Oregon-based Provata Health, adding new digital capabilities in the area of population health.
- Provata’s iOS and Android apps and platform will be integrated into StayWell features to streamline the user experience, StayWell said.
- Provata currently serves 500,000 members across 1,000 work sites, including health systems and health plans.
Dive Insight:
The deal expands StayWell’s footprint in population health. Among the capabilities Provata brings are enhanced digital health coaching, real-time data analytics and dashboards to support patient engagement, advanced activity tracking and virtual reality tools for managing medications and stress. StayWell also gains access to Provata’s pool of more than 80,000 physicians, as well as integration with EHRs.
Under the acquisition, Provata CEO Alex Goldberg will serve as vice president of innovation at StayWell and general counsel and business strategy chief Aaron Goldberg will be vice president of StayWell client solutions. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It's StayWell’s second deal in recent months. In October, the company purchased Silicon Valley-based health engagement developer MedHelp, whose portfolio includes diabetes, fertility and pregnancy apps as well as a calorie-tracking app.
With value-based reimbursement models focused on improving outcomes while reducing costs, population health is a hot topic and a magnet for opportunity. In its 2017 fourth quarter earnings report, Cerner noted strong growth in its HealtheIntent platform, which ended the year with 144 unique clients. Population health bookings for the year were up 42%, while revenue grew 20%.
Cerner’s population health platform could get even bigger. The payer is reportedly in the final stages of discussions with Amazon about a project involving HealtheIntent.