This morning Phreesia, a health startup focused on the scheduling space, announced its purchase of patient engagement company Insignia Health for an undisclosed sum. 

The Portland, Ore.-based startup created a Patient Activation Measure survey, which is able to help evaluate where patients are on their care journey. The levels include: “disengaged and overwhelmed,” “becoming aware but still struggling,” “taking action and gaining control,” and “maintaining behaviors and pushing forward.” 

These levels are then able to help care teams cater to a patient's needs. Insignia is able to help organizations create resources and coach patients based on where they are in their care journey. It also helps caregivers create an action and treament plans, and set goals to align with a patient’s behavior. 

WHY IT MATTERS 

Phreesia is pitching this acquisition as a way to help its clients include patients more in their healthcare. 

“Phreesia’s core strength is putting tools in the hands of patients to take on tasks – from self-reporting data like social determinants of health, to making payments, to signing consent forms – that they can do better than anyone else, and that aligns with the convenient digital experience they want,”  Phreesia CEO Chaim Indig said in a statement.

“We’ve long admired Insignia’s expertise in understanding and activating patients, and we believe this acquisition will help us deliver on our mission to create a better, more engaging healthcare experience.”

THE LARGER TREND

In 2019, Phreesia went public on the New York Stock Exchange after raising more than $100 million from investors. Since the company was founded in 2005, it has grown to include services relating to patient intake, payment, appointment and other administrative tasks. In July, the company introduced a new tool called Appointment Accelerator, which is able to fill canceled appointments automatically. 

While more and more digital health companies are deciding to exit via an IPO or SPAC, mergers and acquisitions still remain a popular option. In fact, a Rock Health research article reports that there were 79 M&As in Q3 of 2021, and 216 total M&A deals during the first three quarters of 2021.