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Primary care software company Hint Health acquired health record company AeroDPC in a cash and equity deal, Hint CEO Zak Holdsworth tells Axios exclusively. 

Why it matters: The move is emblematic of two big shifts in health care: broader consolidation of health tech infrastructure and growing popularity in subscription-based forms of hybrid primary care.

Deal details: San Francisco, Calif.-based Hint purchased Denver, Color.-based  AeroDPC in a half cash, half equity transaction.

As part of the acquisition, AeroDPC cofounder and medical director Brad Brown joins Hint as its medical director. 

The deal lets Hint offer clinicians a more comprehensive set of administrative tools that includes patient medical records.

What's next: Holdsworth says Hint is "on a path to profitability" and plans to acquire more companies in the near future as it expands its product lineup to potentially include specialty care.

"We’re in conversations with more entities about acquisitions," Holdsworth says. "We have M&A firepower now." 

"We have networks of awesome doctors already negotiating price-transparent cash rates for imaging and specialty care," he adds. "Can we accelerate those and further integrate downstream care?"

Yes, and: Hint in 2023 will launch a new product combining its existing operating system, HintOS, with AeroDPC to enable patient management, messaging and records, billing and business management.

How it works: Hint Health's cash-only model, also known as direct primary care (DPC), has patients pay a set subscription fee to their primary care provider for services including wellness visits, acute care, medication management and lab testing.

Hint operates in 21 states representing over 2,400 primary care providers and 1,600 clinics and plans to be in 40 by the end of next year, says Holdsworth. 

Current customers include Proactive MD, Equinox Primary Care and MetroHealth, among others.

On average, the practices using Hint's platform charge patients $75 a month for a membership, per Business Insider.

Flashback: AeroDPC is Hint's second acquisition to-date. In 2021 Hint bought Equal Health, a Detroit, Mich.-based direct primary care network and benefits provider.

Hint in June raised $45 million in a Series B round led by Banneker Partners and Frist Cressey Ventures, bringing total funding to $60 million.

State of play: The subscription-based primary care movement has been slowly gaining momentum since it first emerged in the early 2000s. 

Everside Health, an employer-facing DPC provider, has fielded many inquiries from strategics, CEO Chris Miller told Axios earlier this month.

Those inquiries came on the heels of Amazon's June agreement to acquire primary hybrid care chain One Medical for $3.9 billion.

Meanwhile, health tech is consolidating as the hybrid care revolution ratchets up competition, and companies that provide the infrastructure required to help those practices streamline are attracting fresh capital.

Tebra, which formed out of a 2021 merger between medical software developer Kareo and health care marketing company PatientPop, in July raised $72M at a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Fold Health, which charges primary care clinics a per-member per-month fee and offers tools for patient onboarding, marketing, messaging and billing, in July pulled in $6M in seed funds. 

Capable Health, whose software includes tools for patient onboarding, care plan creation and patient-provider messaging and video chat, in May debuted with $6M in seed capital.

The big question: Do subscription-based models actually reduce medical spending for consumers and employers, and how do they start making money?

What they’re saying: It's all about scale, and companies in the sector will need to attract more members before they can start raking in the cash, analysts say.

“While these models represent a relatively niche sub-segment of the primary care landscape, we expect they will become more mainstream as operating models improve,” Pitchbook emerging technology analyst Kaia Colban told Axios in January.

Exclusive: Hint buys AeroDPC amid health tech enablement wave

Hint Health is in talks with additional prospective targets, CEO Zak Holdsworth says.

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Health tech deals

Primary care software company Hint Health acquired health record company AeroDPC in a cash and equity deal, Hint CEO Zak Holdsworth tells Axios exclusively. Why it matters: The move is emblematic of two big shifts in health care: broader consolidation of health tech infrastructure and growing popularity in <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="subscription-based" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/27/subscribe-save-on-medical-costs" data-vars-content-id="c4f55ae1-b1b9-4b70-b635-7533d1ecdd78" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Hint buys AeroDPC amid health tech enablement wave" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/27/subscribe-save-on-medical-costs" target="_self">subscription-based</a> forms of hybrid primary care.

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Exclusive: Hint buys AeroDPC amid health tech enablement wave

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