Top Story, Health IT, Startups

Inbox Health acquires CakeHealth’s medical bill tracking tech

Inbox Health is also raising a seed round of up to $2.5 million, led by Connecticut Innovations and Launch Capital.

Provider ViewIn what’s becoming a familiar pattern, a practice management company is at the center of an acquisition deal. This time, practice management software business Inbox Health has acquired billing transparency business Cake Health for its technology, but the financial terms were not disclosed.

CakeHealth aggregates medical cost and insurance data to help users manage their healthcare expenses. Rebecca Woodcock founded the company and launched the San Francisco-based business at TechCrunch Disrupt in September 2011. Its three primary investors include Rock Health, Kima Ventures, and CRV. Woodcock will join Inbox Health as an adviser, Inbox Health Chief product Officer Blake Walker confirmed in emailed responses to questions.

Inbox Health only officially launched last year. It works with healthcare providers to improve the accuracy of patient benefit information and payment processing. Both Inbox Health and CakeHealth have been StartUp Health portfolio companies.

Inbox Health’s newest product, Benefitly,  syncs up with healthcare providers’ existing scheduling system. It informs patients via email or SMS that they can check-in early for their doctor’s appointment. They can also complete office forms in advance of their visit or in the waiting room, review insurance information, ask questions about their benefits, and pay for their visit in full or over time. CakeHealth’s insurance aggregation tool will be integrated with Benefitly.

Walker commented on the deal with CakeHealth. “CakeHealth’s insurance aggregation tech is novel, and would have been difficult to create. Acquiring it allows us to move closer to our goal of creating a more transparent and frictionless patient payment process.” He added: “We both share a common goal, and we were motivated to work together to push healthcare billing and payments towards a more transparent and cohesive future.”

Additionally, Walker said Inbox Health is raising a Seed round of up to $2.5 million, led by Connecticut Innovations and Launch Capital, with further participation from Enhanced Capital. He said the funding would be used to “expand our integrations with existing vendors and grow our sales and marketing teams.”

In Mercom Capital’s report on health IT deal flow in the first quarter of the year, it noted that the first three months of the year had the highest number of mergers and acquisitions in a single quarter. It also observed that practice-focused companies dominated M&A activity, accounting for 36 of the
total 58 transactions.

Earlier this month, athenahealth acquired its first portfolio company Arsenal Health — a company that uses predictive analytics to anticipate which patients will cancel their doctor’s appointment or not show up at all. SwervePay acquired StatPayMD to help patients better understand their medical bills.

Photo: Bigstock Photo

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