Private Equity Healthcare Acquisitions – October 2022

In light of the growing investor interest in healthcare and the risks associated with private equity ownership of healthcare companies, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project will be tracking private equity-backed healthcare acquisitions. Below is a list of private equity healthcare buyouts and add-on acquisitions completed or announced during October 2022. We will continue to track acquisitions on a monthly basis.

See September 2022 acquisitions here.

In October 2022, there were 67 private equity acquisitions and growth/equity investments in the healthcare space across a wide range of subsectors.

Growth investment in triage nursing

In early October, private equity firm Pacific Lake Partners led several other firms in a growth investment in IntellaTriage, a post-acute nurse triage company. The company provides after-hours triage services to hospices, home health operators, and other healthcare organizations.[1]  Its job listings page includes a number of remote hospice triage RN positions.[2]

A report last year in the New York Times indicated that hospice staff shortages have developed across the country, and observed that hospice nurses typically earn less than those employed by hospitals or travel nurse agencies.[3] PESP recently published a report examining the nurse staffing crisis, the travel nursing industry, and the increased investment in medical staffing by private equity.[4] PESP also examined the growth of private equity investing in hospice care earlier this year.[5]

Private equity grows investment in health information technology and software

Private equity firms made add-on acquisitions of health IT and software companies that provide a variety of services, including practice management, logistical support, and point of care content. Private equity interest in health IT has grown in recent years as investors see increasing valuations in the industry; a 2019 report by industry analyst McKinsey & Company using 2016-19 data found healthcare tech companies were valued at 17.1 times earnings on average, surpassing most other healthcare subcategories.[6]

Last month PE-owned patient engagement platform PatientPoint Health Technologies announced its acquisition of Rendia, which provides point-of-care content for eye care providers. PatientPoint will acquire Rendia’s “technology platform, provider portal and content library,” which is currently used by more than 8,000 eye care providers.[7] PatientPoint was formed in 2021 from the merger of private equity-owned competitors PatientPoint, owned by L Catterton, and Outcome Health, owned by Littlejohn & Co.[8]

Additionally, BloodHub, a health tech company that provides “blood and biologics supply chain automation solutions” was acquired by PE-owned InVita Healthcare Technologies, which provides chain of custody software to healthcare providers, blood centers, and public health and safety organizations.[9] InVita is owned by The Riverside Company, a private equity firm that has invested in more than 300 software and healthcare companies.[10]

Finally, Nextech acquired TouchMD. Nextech develops EMR and practice management software. Its acquisition of TouchMD adds visual consultation, marketing, and imaging software to its capabilities. Nextech has been owned by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners since 2019, which acquired it from Francisco Partners.[11]

Consolidation in nursing home services and mental health

PE-owned Aria Care Partners, which provides ancillary medical services to skilled nursing facilities, made three add-on acquisitions in early October; it acquired dental care providers Mission Dental and PrevMed, as well as eye care provider Perspective Vision Care.[12] Aria Care Partners is currently owned by private equity firm Serent Capital,[13] which has invested in over 20 healthcare technology companies in the last decade.[14]

ARC Health, a mental health provider owned by Thurston Group, made two add-on acquisitions: The Ross Center and Focus Forward Counseling and Consulting. The Ross Center provides psychiatric and psychological services to patients in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and New York City.[15] Focus Forward is a comprehensive multilingual therapy practice with two locations in Atlanta.[16] Thurston Group describes ARC has “a mental health platform built to support market-leading mental health practices across the country.”[17] With the two acquisitions, ARC Health operates seven mental health practices in 18 cities.[18]

Another mental health transaction involved Bradford Health, an operator of treatment centers for substance use disorder based in Birmingham, Alabama, with 40 locations across the southeastern U.S. Private equity firm Lee Equity Partners acquired the company from Centre Partners.[19]Axios noted that the transaction was another data point reflecting “the ability to transact in the lower middle market – where lining up financing isn’t quite as challenging.”[20]

October 2022 Add-on Acquisitions

Source: Pitchbook, accessed November 2022.

October 2022 Buyouts

October 2022 Growth/Expansion Investments

Source: Pitchbook, accessed November 2022.

[1]Jim Parker. “Pacific Lake Partners Leads New IntellaTriage Growth Investment Round.” Hospice News, October 7, 2022. https://hospicenews.com/2022/10/07/pacific-lake-partners-leads-new-intellatriage-growth-investment-round/.

[2]Intellatriage. “Careers.” Accessed November 18, 2022. https://intellatriage.com/employment/.

[3]Paula Span. “Short on Staff, Some Hospices Ask New Patients To Wait.” The New York Times, October 16, 2021, sec. Health. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/16/health/coronavirus-hospice-staff.html.

[4] Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “Profiting in Crisis: Exploring Private Equity’s Investments in Travel Nursing Amidst a Critical Nursing Shortage and a Pandemic,” October 12, 2022. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/profiting-in-crisis-exploring-private-equitys-investments-in-travel-nursing-amidst-a-critical-nursing-shortage-and-a-pandemic/.

[5] Private Equity Stakeholder Project PESP. “Private Equity at Home: Wall Street’s Incursion into the Home Healthcare and Hospice Industries,” March 2022.  https://pestakeholder.org/reports/private-equity-at-home-wall-streets-incursion-into-the-home-healthcare-and-hospice-industries/

[6]David Champagne and Alex Devereson. “Private Equity Opportunities in Healthcare Tech | McKinsey.” McKinsey, May 23, 2019. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-equity-and-principal-investors/our-insights/private-equity-opportunities-in-healthcare-tech.

[7]PatientPoint. “PatientPoint Acquires Rendia to Accelerate Expansion into Ophthalmology Specialty,” October 5, 2022. https://www.patientpoint.com/news/patientpoint-acquires-rendia-enters-opthalmology.

[8]Heather Landi. “PatientPoint Acquires Outcome Health to Combine Point-of-Care Technologies.” Fierce Healthcare, March 9, 2021. https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/patientpoint-acquires-outcome-health-to-combine-point-care-technologies.

[9]InVita Healthcare Technologies. “InVita Healthcare Technologies Acquires BloodHub to Expand Capabilities of Connected Software Solutions for Blood Centers.” Cision PR Newswire, October 6, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/invita-healthcare-technologies-acquires-bloodhub-to-expand-capabilities-of-connected-software-solutions-for-blood-centers-301642080.html.

[10]www.riversidecompany.com. “Riverside’s Latest Investment Runs in Its Blood,” October 6, 2022. https://www.riversidecompany.com/currents/bloodhub-news-release/.

[11]THL. “Thomas H. Lee Partners Acquires Nextech Systems,” June 26, 2019. https://thl.com/news-post/thomas-h-lee-partners-acquires-nextech-systems/.

[12]Aria Care Partners. “Aria Care Partners Expands Skilled Nursing Facility Services with Three Strategic Acquisitions,” October 6, 2022. https://ariacarepartners.com/press-releases/aria-care-partners-expands-skilled-nursing-facility-services-with-three-strategic-acquisitions/.

[13]Serent Capital. “Aria Care Partners.” Accessed November 18, 2022. https://serentcapital.com/portfolio/bio/aria-care-partners/.

[14]Business Wire. “DirectShifts Secures Investment from Experienced Healthcare Tech Investor, Serent Capital,” November 3, 2022. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221102006222/en/DirectShifts-Secures-Investment-from-Experienced-Healthcare-Tech-Investor-Serent-Capital.

[15]ARC Health. “The Ross Center Joins ARC Health.” Cision PR Newswire, October 24, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-ross-center-joins-arc-health-301655058.html.

[16]ARC Health. “Focus Forward Counseling and Consulting Joins ARC Health,” October 31, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/focus-forward-counseling-and-consulting-joins-arc-health-301662983.html.

[17]Thurston Group. “ARC Health.” Accessed November 18, 2022. https://www.thurstongroup.com/portfolio/arc-health.

[18]ARC Health. “Practices | ARC Health.” Accessed November 18, 2022. http://localhost:8000/practices.

[19]Centre Partners; Lee Equity Partners. “Lee Equity Partners Acquires Bradford Health Services from Centre Partners.” Cision PR Newswire, October 28, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lee-equity-partners-acquires-bradford-health-services-from-centre-partners-301662116.html.

[20]Sarah Pringle. “Lee Equity Buys Centre Partners’ Bradford Health.” Axios, October 31, 2022. https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2022/10/31/bradford-health-lee-equity-centre-partners.