Virgin Pulse, the employer wellness arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, is making one other huge acquisition. It plans to purchase Denver-based affected person engagement firm Welltok for an undisclosed quantity.
Each corporations have the same objective: participating sufferers to assist them make selections about their well being. However with the acquisition, Virgin Pulse may have entry to extra communication channels and extra healthcare prospects.
“We’re very sturdy on the employer aspect and so they’re sturdy on the well being plan aspect,” Virgin Pulse CEO Chris Michalak stated in an interview with MedCity Information. “It should open some utterly new markets to the Virgin Pulse enterprise.”
Virgin Pulse, headquartered in Windfall, Rhode Island, gives wellness applications for employers and has greater than 4,000 shoppers throughout 190 nations. Its shoppers include a number of giant corporations, together with Visa, ExxonMobil and St. Joseph Well being.
Three years in the past, personal fairness agency Marlin Fairness Companions purchased Virgin Pulse and Purple Brick Well being, and merged them collectively right into a single entity.
In the meantime, Welltok largely works with well being methods and well being plans to encourage folks to take well being actions, resembling becoming a member of a stress administration program or refilling a prescription.
Greater than 100 well being methods at present use its service for affected person engagement campaigns or to ship communications associated to Covid-19. It additionally works with some well being plans, pharmacy profit managers, Medicare Benefit and managed Medicaid applications, and has broadened its footprint with latest acquisitions.
Mixed, Virgin Pulse and Welltok would have about 2,100 staff, with Welltok persevering with to function beneath its present model in the interim, Michalak stated.
“Our two organizations have comparable issues we care about. On the core of what we each worth is making a distinction with folks and altering lives for good,” he added. “I like that two corporations are coming collectively to assist sufferers and members make nice selections about their healthcare on a forward-going foundation.”
The deal is anticipated to shut this month, and is topic to regulatory approvals.
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