A technology firm that serves as the social care network provider for Kaiser Permanente and CVS Health is buying a community referral platform provider in an effort to create the first turnkey solution to address social needs.
The value of the deal announced on Tuesday was not disclosed, but New York-based Unite Us' purchase of Now Pow makes it the leading integrated health and social care network provider in a nascent market. The two companies' reach spans all 50 states.
Unite Us serves some of the country's largest health stakeholders, including Cleveland-based MetroHealth.
"Not only is it about furthering our geographic reach but our depth within communities," Unite Us CEO Dan Brillman said of the purchase of Now Pow's network.
Chicago-based NowPow partners with healthcare organizations to help patients find affordable healthcare. NowPow was an early recipient of a $5.9 million grant from The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. Patients don't pay anything to use NowPow's platform.
NowPow's roots and connections within the medical field will help Unite Us build better coordination between clinical and social care providers, Brillman said.
Unite Us has made several moves to position itself as the first end-to-end technology solution for stakeholders looking to connect patients to social services and supports. Last month, Unite Us acquired health analytics firm, Carrot Health.
That's allowed Unite Us to identify patients with needs, enroll and register them into services, measure and report the impact of those services, and manage reimbursement, Brillman said.
"What we saw in the market was health systems or payers had to kind of put together different types of solutions to make a solution like ours in the past," Brillman said. "We wanted to make sure that we could provide that whole encompassing end-to-end all at once for them."
