Months after becoming a publicly traded company, acute telemedicine provider SOC Telemed made its largest acquisition to date. It acquired specialty telemedicine provider Access Physicians for $194 million in cash and stock last week.
Unlike consumer-facing telemedicine companies, such as Doctor on Demand, SOC Telemed primarily sells its services to hospitals and clinics. It has a platform that lets hospitals build their own telemedicine programs, and offers consults from neurologists, psychiatrists, critical care physicians and pulmonologists.
Access Physicians, which was founded in 2011 by a group of doctors, takes a similar approach. It has specialists in infectious diseases, cardiology, maternal-fetal medicine and nephrology.
“Our shared belief in a patient and clinician-centric approach was key to this relationship,” Access Physicians CEO Dr. Chris Gallagher said in a news release. “Access Physicians has long held a commitment to providing the very best patient care possible, and we felt SOC Telemed shared that mission. We sought out a company that would not only share our vision, but also broaden our combined capabilities to accelerate the realization of our vision.”
The combined company would work with more than 700 hospitals across 47 states, including some of SOC Telemed’s large health system partners. It’s expected to bring in a combined revenue of $107 million to $113 million this year, with Access Physicians contributing roughly a third of the total.
Reston, Va.-based SOC Telemed went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company in October. The deal, which valued SOC Telemed at $720 million, involved it merging with a publicly-traded shell company. Its stock is trading at about $6 per share, down from roughly $10 per share at the merger.
Unlike its peers, the pandemic hasn’t necessarily boosted SOC Telemed’s bottom line. Its revenue actually declined at the end of 2020, down 13% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Year-over-year, it also saw the number of consults decrease by 21% in 2020. SOC Telemed attributed the decline to lower utilization of its core services as hospital visits decreased and elective procedures were put on hold during the pandemic.
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