Florence acquires telehealth platform Zipnosis from Bright Health

Photo: Martin Barraud/Getty Images

Healthcare enablement software company Florence, which focuses largely on workflow automation, has acquired Zipnosis, an asynchronous-first virtual care solution, in what it said was an all-cash deal, although the financial terms were not disclosed.

Florence acquired Zipnosis from insurtech Bright Heath, which has been struggling financially and has been selling off various business lines in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.

Through the acquisition Florence expects to broaden its product offerings with both synchronous and asynchronous virtual care. The ultimate goal, the company said, is to address the issue of clinical capacity by creating a consumer-centric interface that engages patients across both virtual and physical care.

"Zipnosis' asynchronous telemedicine solution is the best in the industry and perfectly aligns with Florence's vision to create capacity to care in physical settings," said Florence CEO Aniq Rahman.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

What Zipnosis will do, said Florence, is boost patient accessibility and free up 99% of provider work time by using intelligent adaptive interviews that enable care delivery in about 89 seconds. As a result, the company said, physicians will be able to treat more patients while allocating additional time to those with greater needs.

Zipnosis has facilitated 4.5 million patient encounters and engaged 3,500 physicians at more than 50 different top health institutions, including Ballad Health, SSM Health, the Medical University of South Carolina, and Allina Health, the company said.

The acquisition follows Florence's formal launch last month, at which time the company announced $20 million in seed funding, led by Thrive Capital, Google Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

Florence promises patients the ability to track and accelerate their healthcare journey via smartphone, update clinical information, facilitate prescription fulfillment, initiate self-discharge, and schedule follow-up appointments. 

The company also said its goal is to reduce costs through "consumer-grade patient experiences" that automate staff workflows.

Zipnosis, which currently employs about 60 people, said it can increase physician capacity by 60% in just 15 minutes per day.

THE LARGER TREND

By selling off Zipnosis, Bright Health hopes to stay afloat after overdrawing on its credit. Originally the company was tasked with securing $300 million by the end of April to avoid bankruptcy, but according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it managed to secure an extension through June 30.

To qualify for the extension, Bright Health must find a buyer for its Medicare Advantage business by the end of this month. It announced it was exploring the sale back in May.

There is "inbound interest" in the California MA business, which is strong and currently serving 125,000 seniors, according to Manny Kadre, lead independent director of Bright Health's board of directors.

But Bright Health's financial situation is uncertain, with an ominous sign coming in February when it sold half the CFO's stake in the company.

This week, Bright Health finalized a 1-to-80 reverse stock split to raise its share price above the threshold required to remain on the New York Stock Exchange. The reverse split raised the company's share price to $13.57 at NYSE's opening on Monday, up from $0.21 at the close on Friday. 

On the New York Stock Exchange, a company risks being delisted if its shares don't reach $1 and hold that value for 30 consecutive days. 

In October 2022, Bright Health announced it would no longer offer individual and family health plans through Bright HealthCare in 2023, and that it would be cutting Medicare Advantage products outside of California and Florida.

The cutback affected plans in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. The company had previously announced it would exit six markets: Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com