Telehealth provider Doctor on Demand announced its plans to merge with clinical navigation platform Grand Rounds to form a new integrated virtual health company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the companies have shared that it is expected to close in the first half of 2021.
This news comes less than a year after Grand Rounds landed a whopping $175 million in funding to fuel clinical navigation and virtual primary care development, and Doctor on Demand scored $75 million in Series C funding.
The combined entity will use Grand Rounds’ clinical navigation and patient advocacy tools and Doctor on Demand’s telehealth offering. Specifically, the new company will be focused on primary care, specialty care, chronic care management, and behavioral health.
Grand Rounds CEO Owen Tripp will now be the CEO of the combined company.
WHY IT MATTERS
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Digital health M&As have been booming since the start of 2021. At the end of February, Doctor on Demand competitor MDLive announced that it was set to be acquired by Cigna’s health service subsidiary Evernorth. This new M&A is pitching a way to offer a more integrated model of care.
“No one has done this before, combining navigation and virtual care delivery. We think it’s the future,” Tripp said in a statement. “People make unguided healthcare decisions every day, often with higher costs and worse outcomes.
“Now, with Doctor on Demand, we’ll offer them coordinated support on all fronts – physical, behavioral, financial, administrative – and we’ll do it for everything from acute issues to lifelong health. This is truly complete care, and it’s what we all need.”
THE LARGER TREND
Virtual health has made its way into the spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic. While telehealth visits may even out after the pandemic is under control, the service is expected to remain a major element of health. Doximity’s 2020 State of Telemedicine Report found that up to $106 billion of current U.S. healthcare spend could be virtualized by 2023.
Doctor on Demand has reported massive growth. In fact, as of September, the company reported that usage of its technology is up 139% due to COVID-19 screenings and other health issues. Over the last year, the company also expanded its services to 33 million Medicare Part B beneficiaries across the U.S. It also launched programs with Humana and Walmart, among others.
Both Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds have been in the digital game for some time. In fact, Grand Rounds was founded in 2011, and Doctor on Demand was founded in 2012.
Source: Mobihealthnews
