The news: Primary care startup Carbon Health is acquiring remote patient monitoring (RPM) company Alertive Healthcare—Carbon Health’s first dive into RPM, which will allow it to expand its home-based care capabilities and omnichannel in-person/virtual care delivery strategy.

• For context, Alertive Healthcare’s RPM devices collect biometric data from patients, deliver updates on a patient’s health, and alert providers when a patient’s health becomes critical.
• Its tools are used across multiple specialties including primary care, cardiology, neurology, and kidney care.

This acquisition follows Carbon Health’s summer of growth, where it secured $350 million in funding and acquired two urgent care chains that grew its footprint to over 90 clinics across 14 states.

Why Carbon Health is different from its competitors: Unlike other peers like One Medical and Forward, Carbon Health doesn’t charge a membership fee.

• Instead, it accepts most major insurance plans and offers options for those who are uninsured.
• For example, it offers in-person urgent care visits for $145 and virtual visits for $69—which is on the lower end of the typical costs for medical care at traditional providers.

What’s next? This acquisition could help Carbon Health do 2 things:

1. Bolster its hybrid care model: By adding RPM capabilities, Carbon Health can now build out the connective tissue between its in-person and virtual care services.
2. Expand into other specialties: Since Alertive Healthcare has RPM solutions applicable for specialties beyond just primary care, Carbon Health can leverage this to develop its care capabilities in areas like cardiology, neurology, and kidney care, which often require the consistent visits and steady monitoring of a patient’s health.

The bigger picture: Digital health companies are purchasing companies that get them deeper into chronic care management—an area of healthcare where virtual care and digital health tools can have the greatest impact.

• Providers are already using virtual visits for chronic conditions more than any other healthcare area: 66% are using virtual care for chronic condition management, per Amwell and HIMSS Analytics’ recently released survey.
• The demand for chronic care won’t be going down any time soon: The aging population is swelling and so are chronic conditions: 77% of older adults have at least two chronic diseases, per the National Council on Aging.

Go Deeper: Check out our newly released Primary Care Disruptors report to learn more about how the primary care landscape is evolving alongside digital health transformation.