Home health care providers DispatchHealth and Medically Home to combine operations
In the healthcare industry, a significant development is underway as DispatchHealth, a leading provider of hospital-level home care services, and Medically Home, a pioneer in delivering advanced care in patients' homes, have announced their plans to merge. The deal, expected to close in the middle of 2025, aims to expand hospital-level home care services across 50 metropolitan areas in the United States.
The combined company, which will operate under the DispatchHealth brand, will employ more than 2,200 people, with over half being frontline care team members. This merger is a strategic move to deliver value to health plans and health systems embracing alternative care models, including hospital-at-home programs.
The collaboration between DispatchHealth and Medically Home brings together two organisations with complementary capabilities. DispatchHealth offers a broad spectrum of in-home services, from pre-acute and acute care to post-acute bridge care aimed at preventing readmissions within 30 days of hospital discharge. Medically Home, on the other hand, provides a platform and support services for providers to deliver advanced care in patients' homes.
This union will allow the combined company to provide both enablement models (supporting health systems to deliver care themselves) and direct care delivery models (as DispatchHealth does), covering more of the high-acuity care continuum in patients' homes. Together, they manage approximately 20,000 annual hospital-at-home admissions, indicating a substantial patient volume beyond pilot programs, though still a small fraction of overall acute hospital admissions nationwide.
The merger is seen as a strong vote of confidence in the hospital-at-home model, signalling ongoing consolidation and maturation in this evolving market. Despite some financial struggles and a decline in Medically Home’s valuation prior to the deal, the combined entity leverages substantial prior investments and experience—DispatchHealth has treated more than 1.2 million patients across 20+ states since its founding, supported by over $700 million in funding.
The Acute Hospital Care At Home program, which allows approved Medicare-certified facilities to provide inpatient level care in patients' homes, was created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2020. More than 55,000 patients have received hospital-level services through Medically Home's program. The merged firm will partner with nearly 40 health systems, providing hospital-level home care services across the nation.
President Donald Trump signed a short-term government funding bill that extends the Acute Hospital Care At Home program and telehealth flexibilities in Medicare through September 30, 2021. However, the Acute Hospital Care At Home program operates on a temporary waiver, and there's been uncertainty about whether these flexibilities will continue indefinitely.
Jennifer Webster, CEO of DispatchHealth, will lead the merged firm. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and Medically Home will become part of DispatchHealth when the deal closes. Boston-based Medically Home has raised $110 million in venture capital investment in its most recent funding round three years ago.
This merger is set to reshape how acute care is delivered in the U.S., integrating care delivery and enablement capabilities to meet growing demand from health systems for high-acuity in-home care. The combined entity is poised to make a significant impact on the future of healthcare, offering hospital-level home care services to a wider population across the United States.
- In the realm of AI and technology, the news breaking in the healthcare industry is significant: DispatchHealth, a prominent medtech player in home care services, plans to merge with Medically Home, a pioneer in advanced patient care at home.
- This M&A deal, slated to close in mid-2025, aims at bringing hospital-level home care services to 50 major cities across the U.S.
- The new entity, operating under the DispatchHealth brand, will employ over 2,200 individuals, with more than half being frontline care team members.
- This strategic move will deliver value to health plans and health systems adopting alternative care models, including hospital-at-home programs.
- The convergence of DispatchHealth and Medically Home brings together two organizations with complementary capabilities, offering a breadth of in-home services from pre-acute to post-acute care and advanced care support.
- The united company is expected to provide both enablement models and direct care delivery models, covering a larger portion of the high-acuity care continuum in patients' homes.
- This merger comes amidst a crucial period for the healthcare industry, with both entities managing approximately 20,000 annual hospital-at-home admissions, indicating a substantial patient volume beyond pilot programs.
- The deal signals ongoing consolidation and maturation of the hospital-at-home market, positioned to make a substantial impact on health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, education-and-self-development, finance, business, general-news, and the overall science and technology landscape.
