Health Catalyst in agreement to buy Twistle for $104.5 million

Photo: Mikolette/Getty Images

Data and analytics technology and services provider Health Catalyst has entered into an agreement to acquire Twistle, the company said this week. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Twistle is a healthcare patient engagement SaaS technology company that automates patient-centered, HIPAA-compliant communication between care teams and patients.

A filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission places the value of the deal at $104.5 million, plus a potential "earn-out" of up to $65 million. The earn-out, as described in the filing, means Health Catalyst could issue additional shares of its common stock if certain performance targets are met before June 30, 2022. 

The number of shares that are issued will be determined by how close performance comes to those benchmarks.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT

Twistle's main goals are to drive better outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Branding itself as essentially a "GPS" for the healthcare system, Twistle offers "turn by turn" guidance to patients as they navigate the system before, during and after a care episode. It does so through automation combined with multi-channel communication, such as secure text messaging, patient portals and interactive voice responses.

Leaders from both companies expect that Twistle's workflow and patient engagement platform, combined with the Health Catalyst population health offering, will spawn a go-to-market solution that addresses population health needs on a global scale. 

The idea is that DOS, Health Catalyst's cloud-based data platform, will improve Twistle's automation capabilities by facilitating more robust interaction from patients, while Twistle's tech will bolster Health Catalyst's clinical, quality and life sciences solutions.

Health Catalyst expects to fund the transaction using a mix of stock and cash. The parties expect the transaction -- subject to all of the customary closing conditions -- to close early in the third quarter of this year.

THE LARGER TREND

In 2020, KLAS gave scores to several value-based care vendors and gave Health Catalyst a score of 89.2. Health Catalyst clients reported a strong sense of partnership with the firm's broad bench of experts, said they received proactive coaching and got the sense that the firm truly wanted to help them improve.

Moody's Investors Service predicted in April that merger and acquisition activity in healthcare would remain robust in 2021, with consolidation and partnerships enabling scale and revenue diversification. Consolidation efforts will be driven in large part by an attraction to new markets and the desire to provide more services.

ON THE RECORD

"The synergy between our cultures, values, and solutions will have a tremendous impact on the health and wellness of patients," said Kulmeet Singh, founder and CEO of Twistle. "Health Catalyst's patient insights can trigger personalized outreach, and the patient's unique profile will allow Twistle's communication pathways to adapt to their preferences and attributes in unprecedented ways. We are excited about the prospects of our joint solutions proactively engaging at-risk populations, advancing health equity, and improving patient activation in their care. 

"We anticipate that care teams will realize even more efficiency gains as our automated outreach will be more intelligent and individualized, freeing their time to focus on patients that require intervention to stay on track with their medical plan of care."
 

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com