Andre Ulloa, partner at M&A Healthcare Advisors, was featured in McKnights Home Care article on CVS’ acquisition of Signify.

On the other hand, Andre Ulloa, partner at M&A Healthcare Advisors, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse there is still demand from private insurance companies and large healthcare firms for the more traditional services home health care firms provide.

“We are not sure how UnitedHealth will respond [to the CVS/Signify deal], but expect that we will see more large cap investment into home health,” Ulloa said.

McKnights Home Care
By Diana Eastabrook

CVS Health’s $8 billion purchase of home health technology platform Signify Health could radically change the definition of home healthcare, according to some experts.

Central to the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2023, was Signify’s acquisition earlier this year of Caravan Health, an accountable care organization that has expertise in population health management and value-based care. CVS CFO Shawn Guertin told analysts during a conference call Tuesday morning that integrating home care and technology with a model that manages population health through value-based care will help CVS completely revolutionize healthcare.

“We are going in with data and technology and spending time helping [physicians] understand when and where to focus on patients who have needs,” Guertin explained. “Beyond that, we are physically doing genuine care redesign with boots on the ground doing healthcare the way it should be [done].”

Home healthcare has traditionally been defined as brick-and-mortar companies that deploy services such as wound care, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy into patients’ homes. But the CVS-Signify deal and others like it could change the meaning of home healthcare.

Increasingly these days, house call services such as VillageMD, Heal, DispatchHealth and Homeward are changing the face of home health. Many offer both in-home and virtual visits and have been inking deals with Medicare Advantage plans and large healthcare companies to move care into the home. The field has also expanded to include companies like Signify, which leverages technology and services to help payers and employers shift to value-based care.