Dive Brief:
- Cloud-based software and services provider Kareo announced Tuesday that is has acquired DoctorBase, a patient communication platform, according to a company press release.
- Kareo, which is focused primarily on helping independent medical practices, intends to integrate DoctorBase's platform—used primarily to help physicians with billing, appointment reminders, secure messaging and reputation management—into its existing practice management software offerings.
- The new offering will enable physicians to automatically send patients satisfaction surveys after a visit, and even encourage patients to share their experiences on social media. The company predicts that the first release of the new modules could be as early as the second quarter of this year.
Dive Insight:
As the needs of physicians and their practices come into a more cleaner focus, so do the missions of the companies that serve them.
For instance, patient satisfaction surveys, which emerged years ago as a way for physicians to figure out how to serve their patients better, are now part of Medicare's initiative to shift to value-based reimbursement. Bringing that function into routine play for physicians is no longer a luxury, but rather, a necessity if they are going to be able to compete for Medicare dollars past 2018.
Moreover, the two companies had a tendency to share customers, anyway. This is from the press release: "For years, our practice has been using Kareo's platform combined with DoctorBase's patient engagement and practice marketing solutions to reduce administrative time while increasing referrals," said John Browning, MD, of Texas Dermatology and Laser Specialists. "In our eyes, this is a logical combination."