Health IT, Startups

Canary Health CEO details strategic acquisition of bLife for stress management

Canary Health views its stress management acquisition as a useful way to deepen its behavior change strategy for people with chronic conditions.

bLife screengrabCanary Health is a digital health business that uses a combination of health coaches and targeted content to effect behavior change for people who are deemed to be on a course to develop chronic conditions — a group it refers to as the emergent risk.

Previously named DPS Health, the company targets a customer base that includes health plans, providers and employers. This week it acquired bLife, which developed a stress management tool. As part of the deal, Paul Campbell, co-founder and former CEO of bLife, joined Canary Health as chief product officer. bLife co-founder, Hamet Watt, a serial technology entrepreneur and venture partner at UpFront Ventures, joined Canary’s board of directors.

In response to emailed responses, Canary Health CEO Adam Kaufman talked about how its acquisition of bLife’s stress management technology fits into its own strategy.

How will the stress app be integrated into your business? Will it be “prescribed” or will it be readily available to your customers?

We have two go-to-market approaches.  First, given the well-established evidence that stress plays a central role in chronic disease, we plan to make the bLife Stress Care™ tools available with every self-management program we offer.  We will also continue to make Stress Care available as a separate program for those who want to focus specifically on resilience, coping and stress management.

Is this your first acquisition? Are more coming?

This is the first strategic acquisition for Canary Health. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to make additional acquisitions in the future.

How does this deal fit into your expansion plans? 

The acquisition of bLife’s stress management tools is an important step forward and significantly expands our offerings.  bLife allows us to offer health plans and providers a whole person-focused solution that addresses both mind and body.  It also allows us to expand our ability to treat multiple chronic conditions – a key point of differentiation for us in the market.  We will continue to expand our solution set both to drive deeper and more meaningful engagement and to address additional conditions and areas of self-management.

How many staff do you currently have ?

We currently have 20 full-time employees and contract with more than 80 health coaches who provide encouragement and support to the participants in our self-management programs.

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