Dive Brief:
- DispatchHealth and Medically Home have entered into a definitive agreement to combine, the home healthcare companies said Tuesday.
- The merged firm will provide hospital-level home care services across 50 metropolitan areas in partnership with nearly 40 health systems, according to a press release.
- The deal is expected to close in the middle of 2025. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
Dive Insight:
Medically Home will become part of DispatchHealth when the deal closes, according to a press release. The combined company will employ more than 2,200 people, more than half of which will be frontline care team members, a Medically Home spokesperson told Healthcare Dive.
Jennifer Webster, CEO of DispatchHealth who joined the company in 2023, will lead the merged firm, the spokesperson said.
The merger is designed to help the systems expand care access, lower costs and improve capacity, according to Webster.
Founded in 2013, Denver-based DispatchHealth offers same-day medical care, recovery services after a hospitalization or serious health issue, and hospital-level care in the home.
The company has raised hundreds of millions in venture capital dollars, including a $330 million equity and debt financing round in late 2022.
Boston-based Medically Home has also raised significant venture capital investment, including its most recent $110 million raise about three years ago.
The startup provides a platform and support services for providers — including Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Yale New Haven Health and Cleveland Clinic — to deliver advanced care in patients’ homes. More than 55,000 patients have received hospital-level services through the company’s program, according to the company.
Delivering advanced healthcare at home isn’t a new concept, but interest in the care model increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as an influx of patients strained hospital capacity.
To boost available beds during COVID surges, the CMS created the Acute Hospital Care At Home program in 2020, which allowed approved Medicare-certified facilities to provide inpatient level care in patients’ homes.
However, the program operates on a temporary waiver, and there’s been uncertainty about whether flexibilities will continue indefinitely. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump signed a short-term government funding bill that extends the program through Sept. 30, along with telehealth flexibilities in Medicare.
