Provata Health VR-enabled meditation settings
Merck subsidiary StayWell‘s acquisition of Portland, Oregon-based Provata Health is the company’s latest purchase and reflects the steady drumbeat of consolidation in the employer wellness sector as companies acquire more services to add to their offerings.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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.
Provata gives StayWell a program that lets employees virtually transport themselves to a tranquil beach, underwater coral reefs, or a mountainside in meditation exercises intended to relieve stress. The VR-enabled meditation product also provides a way for users to sync wearable devices to visualize the effects of their meditation sessions on their heart rate.
In addition to VR, the deal also gives StayWell tools for coaching, risk assessment and ways to measure participant engagement. The deal follows acquisitions by the business in 2017 of health and wellness app developer MedHelp and patient engagement business ShareWIK in 2016.
Although a steady stream of negative headlines suggest despite employers’ optimism employees don’t much care for workplace wellness programs, as a recent Willis Towers Watson survey showed, that doesn’t seem to have dampened acquisitions in this area.
Last month, French insurance giant AXA Group acquired employee benefits healthcare benefits manager Maestro Health to gain a foothold in the U.S. healthcare market. In 2017, Castlight Health acquired Jiff to make it easier for employees to navigate benefits and health apps. Welltok has also made acquisitions to add analytics tools to better assess engagement such as Predilytics and Mindbloom.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
