Advance care planning technology company Vynca has purchased California-based palliative care and telehealth provider ResolutionCare for an undisclosed sum. This is Vynca’s first move into the clinical care space.
Physician and entrepreneur Ryan Van Wert, M.D., co-founded Palo Alto, Calif.-based advance care planning solution developer Vynca in 2013 to create tech products to guide and document advance care planning discussions that would be easily accessible to necessary stakeholders, including patients, families and clinicians. Van Wert is also an assistant professor at Stanford University where he maintains a clinical practice.
“It is well-known that the vast majority of palliative care consultations are for advance care planning and goals of care conversations,” Van Wert told Hospice News. “So moving into palliative care was a natural extension, and we are now able to support healthcare providers and health plans in providing the highest quality care for individuals with serious illness.”
Physician Michael Fratkin, M.D., founded ResolutionCare in 2015 as a palliative care service provider in northern California. In addition to hands-on care, Resolution developed an innovative community-based telehealth model aimed at supporting the hospice and palliative care workforce, caregivers and the patients and families they serve.
Resolution Care’s telehealth program is a technology-enabled, home-based community palliative intervention that functions as an extra layer of support in addition to the specialty care that patients receive. In addition to enabling communication with patients and families, the model also allows for greater work-life balance among clinicians, a key consideration in an industry in which close to 62% of clinical staff have indicated they have experienced burn out.
The company receives reimbursement primarily from Medicare Advantage and managed Medicaid plans seeking to leverage the ability of palliative care to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.
Through the acquisition, Vynca will bring its platform to a larger slice of the market and combine its technology and analytics products with Resoution’s telehealth capabilities.
“The lifecycle of an M&A process is exciting and when done well naturally leads to a win-win outcome,” ResolutionCare’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Brian Mistler, told Hospice News. “The response from our current and future business partners has been validating. This acquisition allows us to offer the next level in our whole-person approach to caring for the most vulnerable and underserved individuals with serious illness.”
Following the transaction, Mistler will join Vynca as chief people officer and clinical services operations. ResolutionCare CEO Fratkin will join Vynca as chief medical officer.
“ResolutionCare has been focused on making palliative care more accessible to rural and underserved communities, and we are excited to expand our reach by joining forces with Vynca,” Fratkin said. “The pandemic has brought to the light the powerful impact of virtual palliative care, which is critical as demand for these services grows in areas where resources are scarce.”
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