Experian Health, the health IT arm of the global credit reporting company, has acquired MyHealthDirect, a Nashville-based startup focused on developing technology to help patients schedule appointments in real-time.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Experian Health, which is a leader in the revenue cycle management space, offers a range of data-enabled services and products for providers, payers and pharmacies. According to the company it collaborates with with more than 3,400 hospitals and 7,300 other healthcare organizations.
MyDirectHealth was founded in 2006 and has developed a SaaS model intended to enable better care coordination by providing software allowing patients to more easily book appointments and giving providers and health plans the tools to perform automated engagement activities to drive patients to better healthcare outcomes.
Experian has been working with MyHealthDirect for a number of years as a reseller and distributor of their software product. Company leaders tout the ability of MyHealthDirect’s products to boost appointment and referral rates, improve efficiency and reduce no-shows as a positive benefit for the company’s revenue cycle management functions and ability to manage patients with chronic conditions.
“Experian Health’s mission is to use data-driven insight to connect and simplify healthcare for all,” Experian Group President Jennifer Schulz said in a statement.
“Joining with MyHealthDirect will further propel how we deliver on that mission, giving us the potential to evolve our front-end patient access and patient engagement capabilities by creating solutions that improve consumer convenience while optimizing care across healthcare providers.”
Health services deal volume continues to be high as large service providers look to bolster their offerings through M&A. A PWC report found that in Q2 of 2019, there were 281 deals, marking the eighth quarter in a row where deal volume exceeded 250.
Outside of Experian Health’s recent move, another major example of this trend in the revenue cycle management space has been the activity around Louisville, Kentucky-based Waystar.
EQT Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a majority stake in the company last month after a number of acquisitions of smaller startups meant to boost its service offerings and make it an attractive acquisition target.
Experian Health itself was the result of a branding effort intended to bring all of the company’s revenue cycle and care coordination verticals under a single umbrella. This included Medical Present Value, which Experian acquired for $185 million in 2011, and Passport Health, picked up by Experian for $850 million in 2013.
Photo: Kritchanut, Getty Images
