Telehealth platform Teladoc will acquire Best Doctors, a company whose experts review medical cases and consult with providers to improve the quality of care and, according to Teladoc, reduce costs.
With this acquisition, Teladoc adds more than 50,000 specialists and Best Doctors' analytics, cognitive computing and patient decision-support capabilities. Best Doctors, which was founded in 1989, is also global.
"When we look to innovations in mobile devices, decision-support and patient-engagement capabilities, Teladoc and Best Doctors are bringing their expertise in these areas together to resolve healthcare issues, improve outcomes and reduce costs for patients around the globe," Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic said.
After the acquisition goes through, current Best Doctors CEO Peter McClennen will serve as president of a new division of Purchase, N.Y.-based Teladoc.
"Now aligned as one greater organization under Teladoc, the impact we can make together is tremendous, delivering a paradigm shift in care access that comes with a phenomenal patient experience, unprecedented outcomes and cost savings," McClennen said.
Teladoc will pay $375 million cash and $65 million of Teladoc common stock for Best Doctors in a transaction that's slated to close in July. In a statement, Teladoc said it still aims to hit adjusted EBITDA break-even in the fourth quarter of 2017. In an earnings call in March 2017, the company reported 2016 full-year losses of $74.2 million, in part due to HealthiestYou, a mobile app-based physician locator it acquired last year for $125 million.