athenahealth's Acquisition Of Patient IO Brings Mobile Care Coordination To Population Health Service
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Move means accelerated patient-centered care outside the clinic walls.
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
athenahealth, Inc. announced it has acquired Filiament Labs, Inc., d/b/a Patient IO, an Austin, TX-based care coordination platform that allows providers to engage patients and caregivers outside the clinic walls. Founded in 2013, Patient IO is a web-based app that transforms care plans into actionable daily tasks for patients, empowering them to take control of their own care. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Patient IO, patients can manage medications, review care instructions or record self-reported data. The platform will form the basis for athenahealth’s patient-facing mobile application, athenaWell.
The move means that the Patient IO team, including CEO Jason Bornhorst, CTO Brian Gambs, and CPO Colin Anawaty will all join athenahealth Austin.
“Care coordination and patient self-management is the next big ground on which healthcare will compete,” said Jon Porter, Senior Vice President of Emerging Services, athenahealth. “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.”
Jason Bornhorst, co-founder and CEO of Patient IO, added, “By taking a patient-centered approach to development and embracing the potential of mobile, together we can reach more healthcare organizations than ever before. Our combined offering will deliver actionable insights that help our customer organizations transition to a value-based care environment, improving outcomes and quality at every turn.”
The deal follows Apple’s recent acquisition of personal health record startup Gliimpse, and represents the broader trend of companies leveraging the consumer digital health space and connecting patients and provider groups.
That move marks a concerted effort by Apple to move more deeply into the healthcare marketplace, adding to the company’s current healthcare holdings. CEO Tim Cook told Fast Company he “sees major business opportunity for the company in the non-regulated side of healthcare.” That would include healthcare tracking apps and other HIPAA non-covered entities.