Cloud-based health IT vendor athenahealth has acquired Filament Labs, which does business as Patient IO, in a move that reflects the integration of the health IT startup’s care coordination tech to help patients manage chronic conditions. The transaction marks the second acquisition from athenahealth’s More Disruption Please accelerator, following the Arsenal Health deal in April to help physicians understand why patients miss appointments and plan accordingly.
The deal also reflects a broader trend — health IT companies’ appetite for products that will help them support hospitals in the shift to outcomes-based care.
In a news release, Jon Porter, athenahealth senior vice president of emerging services, said: “By adding Patient IO to our portfolio and delivering their solution as a native component of athenahealth’s population health services, we’ve been able to strengthen our ability to partner with providers as they enter into and become masters of value-based care delivery. Patient IO accelerates our movement towards an exciting strategic milestone: becoming a trusted resource and partner to the patient.”
Patient IO’s technology powers athenahealth’s patient-facing athenaWell app, which is designed to connect patients with their care team. The app transmits upcoming health tasks in the user’s treatment plan and helps them stay informed about their condition through personalized images and videos. Some of athenahealth’s customers already use the fully integrated version of the athenaWell app, but it will be expanded to athenahealth’s Population Health services this Fall.
Patient IO CEO and Co-founder Jason Bornhorst, Chief Technology Officer Brian Gambs, and Chief Product Officer Colin Anawaty will become part of athenahealth’s Austin offices and Bornhorst will serve as executive director of product strategy, in an emailed response to questions. He added that the company would retain its name in the near term.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“This acquisition was a natural move for both companies and I think we’ll continue to see consolidation in the digital health space,” Bornhorst said.
The startup also offers its tools through APIs to make its services more accessible to a wider user base, but Bornhorst said the acquisition would not change the company’s ability to service its full roster of customers and sell into non-athenahealth entities. “This includes the entire platform, including our APIs,” he said.
Athenahealth previously invested in Austin-based Patient IO in October last year when it was part of its Austin accelerator. Filament Labs, which also took part in the Techstars Austin program, closed a $1 million Seed round in 2014 led by Houston-based venture capital firm Mercury Fund.
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