The merry-go-round of owners may finally be slowing for naviHealth, a digital healthcare company that helps health systems and insurers manage post-acute care bundled payments. In its third change of command, naviHealth is now part of OptumHealth, which is part of the Optum division of UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH). It now manages post-acute services for 4.5 million Medicare Advantage members and nine of the top 10 health systems.
NaviHealth was founded in 2012 by Tom Scully, former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who joined Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in 2004. In August 2015, WCAS sold a 71% stake in the company to Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) for $290 million, according to our Deal Search Online database. At the time, the acquisition aligned with Cardinal Health’s strategy to offer the most complete and integrated suite of services to its Integrated Delivery Network, hospital and other customers.
But in June 2018, Cardinal Health changed strategies and sold a 55% interest in the company to Clayton, Dubiler & Rice for an undisclosed amount. By then, naviHealth served more than 2 million insured members and manages care transactions for approximately 800 acute hospitals and 11,000 post-acute care facilities nationwide.
Under OptumHealth, the target will remain a standalone company and will keep its current leadership team, according to the Nashville Business Journal, which broke the story on May 18. Optum rarely publicizes its deals but confirmed this acquisition. Sources told the Journal the price was more than $1 billion.
Just last February, naviHealth announced a deal of its own, acquiring Innovative Healthcare Delivery as part of its mission to extend non-clinical services into seniors homes. IHD specializes in identifying and addressing social determinants of health to improve the quality of life and clinical outcomes for patients. It delivers a high-touch, patient-centric and non-clinical approach that is paired with proprietary workflow and patient engagement technology to address barriers and improve efficiencies to get the right care at the right time.
