Breaking: Zipnosis, a telemedicine/telehealth company that provides telehealth and diagnosis triage for large health systems, had a stealthy announcement of its acquisition by Bright Health Group late yesterday. The announcement is not on either corporate website but was made by Zipnosis’ financial advisers in the transaction, Cain Brothers/KeyBanc. Neither the value of the transaction, the transition plans for Zipnosis management and staff, nor operating model, were disclosed. Both Zipnosis and Bright Health are HQ’d in Minneapolis. Release
Why This Is Verrrry Interesting. Zipnosis developed an interesting niche as a relatively early starter in 2009 by providing white-labeled telemedicine systems to large health systems. They made the case to over 60 health systems across the US, including large systems like Allina Health with a ‘Digital Front Door’ that provided initial triage for a claimed 2 million patients, moving them into synchronous or asynchronous care fully integrated with hospital EHRs. They were named as the ‘Hottest Digital Startup from Flyover Country’ by Observer.com, once upon a time in this Editor’s wayback machine an actual print weekly newspaper and, as is obvious, NYC-centric. Release Their funding to date is, surprisingly, limited: under $25 million from seven investors, including Ascension Ventures, Safeguard Scientifics, Hyde Park Ventures, and Waterline Ventures, with the last round back in 2019. Crunchbase
Bright Health Group, on the other hand, is an insurance provider in both the exchange and Medicare Advantage (MA) markets in 13 states and 50 markets, covering 500,000 lives. Their model integrates both technology like web tools and apps with their insurance plans to be an ‘insurtech’ like Oscar Health and Clover Health. They claim to be the third-largest provider of the highly specialized type of Medicare Advantage plans called Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNP) for those with severe and/or disabling chronic conditions. Bright Health operates in 13 states and 50 markets. In January, they announced the acquisition of Central Health Plan in California with 110,000 MA members.
However, what is verrrry interesting about Bright’s model, compared to other ‘insurtechs’, is that they own or manage a care delivery channel–40 advanced risk-bearing primary care clinics delivering in-person and virtual care to 220,000 members. The ‘risk-bearing’ is also interesting as it leads one to believe that some of these practices may participate in Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) value-based care models such as Primary Care First, the Medicare Shared Savings Program, or End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).
Bright Health is also extremely well funded now–and may be even better funded in the near future. Last September, they raised $500 million in a Series E led by New Enterprise Associates with Tiger Global Management, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Blackstone, as well as existing investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and Greenspring Associates (Crunchbase and Mobihealthnews). The purpose stated at the time was new market expansion both geographically and to small groups. Last week’s rumor was that they are preparing for an IPO in the $1 bn range with a valuation between $10 and $20 bn, which is Big Hay indeed. No paperwork has been filed yet with the SEC. Twin Cities Business, YahooFinance.
As an acquisition for Bright Health, Zipnosis brings in large healthcare systems with a unique triage platform that could be modified for primary care practices. It seems like a snack-sized acquisition that doesn’t require Federal approval but can be operated stand-alone–as health systems may be leery of an insurer’s ownership–with technology that can be integrated into other parts of the Bright Health business. This will be updated as additional news develops.
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