New Ocean Health Solutions CEO Hal Rosenbluth

Digital Health

Transcarent Acquires 98point6 Care Delivery Assets

Employer-focused care platform Transcarent is acquiring 98point6’s entire care delivery division in a transaction that’s reportedly valued at the 2023 Digital Health Number of the Year: $100M.

If you’re unfamiliar with Transcarent, the company is helmed by Glen Tullman, a CEO who knows how to get a deal done. Tullman is the former founder of Livongo and guided it through Teladoc’s $18.5B acquisition in 2020.

Transcarent’s virtual platform lets patients book virtual visits, schedule in-home care, meet with therapists, and manage their prescriptions all within the same solution.

• 98point6 technology will now power the front-end chat that Transcarent’s been using third-parties to handle. 98point6 also doubles Transcarent’s customer base to over 200 employers with a combined 4M employees. That’s a big jump from the 1M employees Transcarent currently supports.

• Although Transcarent has historically depended on contracted clinicians, it will now gain 98point6’s ~150 physicians, as well as aforementioned employer clients such as Boeing, Costco, and Chipotle.

At its core, the acquisition is about obtaining 98point6’s head start on AI, and bringing Transcarent’s digital front door in-house. Tullman told MedCityNews he was looking for “full control of the front-end process, because how you start determines where you end up… You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.”

• What’s next for 98point6? First, a rebranding to 98point6 Technologies. Second, it will stop providing patient care and focus exclusively on licensing its software to health systems, and Washington-based MultiCare has already signed on as its first customer.

• The pivot allows 98point6 to push toward pure play SaaS margins by licensing its chatbot and engagement suite while it lets hospitals use their own doctors and nurses to take over the actual appointments.

The Takeaway
Transcarent is aiming to simplify the process of finding and receiving care, and 98point6’s front-end chat and affiliated provider group will help it do just that. Simplicity is the value proposition, and it seems like a good one to bring to an employer healthcare market where complexity is the enemy.

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The Wire

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