With member experience being critically important to healthcare enterprises, HealthEdge’s acquisition of Wellframe bodes positively for the merged enterprise and consumers. Read on to learn why we like this deal and the synergies between these two health services providers.
HealthEdge’s acquisition of Wellframe announced last month propels the provider of next-gen integrated solutions to health insurers into the high-growth digital member experience market. The deal will bring various benefits to HealthEdge, including Wellframe’s consumer-facing and user-friendly mobile application serving more than 33 million members that delivers personalized content and facilitates seamless connectivity to health plan staff.
The strategic intent behind the deal
In a recent (2020) survey by Everest Group, experience was identified as the most important strategic priority for enterprises. Member engagement has become an important area of investment for healthcare payers. Member experience as a theme is so important that health plans have created a new position, the Chief Experience Officer (CXO), to use their organizational muscle for prioritizing experience.
Healthcare payers realize that great member experience will not only help insurers in smoother acquisition and retention of clients but will also improve their financial performance by reducing the churn rate, improving health outcomes, and saving administrative costs. The industry is also witnessing a shift in the definition of “engagement” from being focused solely on sales and marketing to becoming a holistic approach across the three areas of sales and marketing, services management, and care management.
The acquisition of Wellframe propels HealthEdge into the large and fast-growing digital member engagement market. Coupled with its existing products, this creates a highly differentiated end-to-end solution for customers.
Unpacking the companies’ synergies
Wellframe’s Digital Health Management platform enables health plans to modernize member-facing services, including care management and advocacy. Wellframe’s Digital Care Management (DCM) solution serves as a digital front door for health plans seeking to engage high-risk members. Wellframe leverages real-time member-generated data and artificial intelligence to identify intervention opportunities across its solution suite.
Wellframe’s data sets of 33 million members combined with HealthEdge’s existing data sets will enable HealthEdge to focus on improving the quality of its insights, helping it not only in care management and member engagement but also in other areas where HealthEdge has traditionally offered services.
The Wellframe acquisition strengthens HealthEdge’s portfolio of SaaS solutions across payer workflow operations. The addition of Wellframe to its portfolio of care management solutions coupled with its existing GuidingCare® solution will enable a full spectrum of services spanning member identification, prioritization, targeting, and member engagement. Additionally, seamless and real-time integration between HealthRules Payor® and Wellframe will generate actionable insights that can lead to real-time member interventions and features that enhance a member’s health plan experience.
Things to watch out for
The acquisition of Wellframe is a strategic fit for HealthEdge to enter the high-growth member engagement market and compete with incumbents in this space, such as Salesforce and Pegasystems.
We are positive about this deal, particularly for what it means to the market and current market demand. However, it remains to be seen if HealthEdge also makes an entry in the other areas of member engagement, such as sales and marketing and services management, which would deliver even greater value.
Reach out to me at [email protected] with your thoughts on this acquisition or the member engagement market in general.