Health Union is buying WeGo Health, merging its patient communities with WeGo Health’s network of patient influencers.
The strategic combination is a case where one plus one equals more than two, WeGo founder and CEO Jack Barrette said.
While some people categorize the two companies similarly, he pointed out they’re complementary. Health Union’s patient communities platform reaches people living with chronic conditions on a daily basis, and it’s now set up to pair with WeGo’s broad network of patient leaders and influencers across social media.
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“It’s a depth plus breadth equals something much greater than either one,” Barrette said.
The combined companies will become the largest team of experts, patient advocates and healthcare leaders, the companies claimed in a press release. Competitors in the patient social network arena include MyHealthTeams.
Both Health Union and WeGo count pharma brand sponsors and advertisers as customers—including some of the same ones. Over the coming months, the commercial teams will meet with those clients and figure out how to join their work together.
For one thing, WeGo’s influencer marketing program—launched last year to match patient influencers with pharma companies to co-create social media content—will continue with new potential for expansion.
“Similar to what Facebook does—daily conversations are happening, but there’s also community [there] for rock star creators, and that’s what WeGo Health has always been in the health space,” Barrette said. “We can now help empower the creators already inside Health Union, but also bring the [WeGo] creators into Health Union.”
The two will be fully integrated by the end of the year. The WeGo Health brand will eventually disappear, although it may remain in a few relevant places such as its well-known annual awards, Barrette said.
