Telehealth giant American Well has struck a deal to acquire Aligned Telehealth, a vendor of telepsychiatry and behavioral health that services providers and payers. American Well says that this move will make it the largest enterprise telepsychiatry platform operating in the US.
At this time, the companies are not sharing any terms of the deal such as its price, official effective date or whether there would be any staffing ramifications.
WHAT’S THE IMPACT
For American Well, the acquisition seems to be all about increasing the breadth of its telehealth services and expanding its business to new customer bases.
“Aligned Telehealth is the leading player in on-demand telepsychiatry services, supporting major medical centers and Medicaid plans in their efforts to meet the needs of patients,” Dr. Ido Schoenberg, chairman and CEO of American Well, said in a statement. “By adding the Aligned clinical network and expertise, American Well can further expand and enhance our virtual behavioral health programs, an exciting and important endeavor that will positively impact patients, their families and the treatment teams providing their care, while advancing clinical outcomes and reducing overall costs.”
In adding a new collection of behavioral health capabilities to its repertoire, American Well will be picking up a clinical team that will help the company scale its offerings. Further, the vendor is poised to claim Aligned Telehealth’ prior customers — for instance, Diamond Healthcare, Dignity Health, Christus Health, California Forensic Medical Group and Correctional Medical Group Companies.
“We’ve long believed that by applying powerful technology and the right clinical expertise we can improve access to mental health services for those who need it,” Dr. Nitin Nanda,founder and CEO of Aligned Telehealth, said in a statement. “Within the hospital space and in service of the Medicaid population, we’ve proven this belief to be true. We’re excited to join forces with American Well to help patients further overcome the barriers of access, cost, time and stigma when it comes to getting the care they need and reducing the burden on providers.”
THE LARGER TREND
American Well has offered psychiatry as part of its D2C offering since 2016, and notably brought on some more support in this area when it acquired Avizia in April of last year. However, the telehealth company’s most recent high-profile initiative was its launch of The Clinic, a telehealth service specializing in comprehensive and high-acuity care jointly launched with the Cleveland Clinic.
ON THE RECORD
“Aligned Telehealth has delivered proven results in the behavioral health space generally and telepsychiatry specifically,” Michael Balmuth, managing partner at Aligned Telehealth’s sole institutional investor, SV Health Investors. “We’re delighted to see Aligned join forces with American Well and to be stakeholders in this combination of two mission-oriented, results-driven companies. Together, we expect they will advance the cause of mental health treatment and more broadly change the way we all think about telehealth.”
