Telehealth company Amwell acquires pair of digital health startups

Telehealth giant Amwell has acquired a pair of digital health startups aimed at expanding its longitudinal and behavioral healthcare.

According to a news release, the company has spent $320 million in a mix of stocks and cash to acquire digital mental health platform SilverCloud Health and automated virtual healthcare leader Conversa Health. The aim is to add the two companies to Amwell’s virtual care platform, greatly enhancing the differentiated value provided to current and future patients through the use of interactive tools that strengthen the connection between physical and virtual care.

“We believe that future care delivery will inevitably blend in-person, virtual and digital care experiences; and as such, we are uniquely building a global platform to support such advanced, coordinated care,” Ido Schoenberg, chairman and co-CEO of Amwell, says in the release. “By integrating SilverCloud Health and Conversa Health into our platform we are demonstrating Amwell’s fundamental and repeatable design to continually scale digital healthcare services across the different sites of care. These acquisitions will amplify the presence and reach of care teams and reaffirm that as the needs of the healthcare marketplace evolve, so too will the Amwell platform.”

Both of the acquired companies have proven records of enabling a more efficient blend of in-person, virtual, and digital care and have helped lower operational and healthcare costs. Amwell hopes the acquisitions can accelerate its work to make always-on healthcare companionship a part of the practice of medicine, according to the release.

“There is a tremendous unmet need for mental health solutions in today’s world. While SilverCloud Health’s mental health programs have been used to support over 750,000 people to date, in partnership with more than 300 organizations globally including The Irish Health Service Executive and over 80 (percent) of the U.K.’s NHS mental health services, our work has only just begun,” Ken Cahill, CEO of SilverCloud Health, says in the release.

The combined company will work to create new digital care workflows and programs improving patient engagements and care team reach. The acquisitions will expand Amwell’s current client base to include hospital, health system, health plan, and employer clients of Conversa Health and SilverCloud Health, according to the release.

“Conversa Health pioneered automated virtual care to transform traditional care delivery and dramatically improve patient access, experience, and outcomes while lowering cost,” Murray Brozinsky, CEO of Conversa Health, says in the release. “We’re thrilled to join forces with Amwell, the clear telehealth platform leader, and together to usher in the hybrid care delivery model of the future. Blending physical, virtual, and automated care is a game changer for patients and providers alike. This is a big step for Conversa, and a giant leap for healthcare.”