Healthcare Merger Aims to Advance Value-Based Kidney Care

Three healthcare providers—Fresenius Health Partners, the value-based care division of Fresenius Medical Care North America, InterWell Health, and Cricket Health—have entered into a definitive agreement to merge and create one company that offers value-based kidney care services to over 100,000 individuals.

The three-way merger will bring together Fresenius Health Partners’ knowledge of value-based contracting and performance, InterWell Health’s network of more than 1,600 nephrologists, and Cricket Health’s technology-enabled care model and patient engagement platform.

The new company is valued at $2.4 billion and will operate independently under the InterWell Health brand, the press release stated. The organization aims to improve value-based care for individuals living with mid- and late-stage chronic kidney disease.

The merged company will have a total addressable market of $170 billion, more than $6 billion of medical costs under management, and serve over 100,000 Americans, according to the healthcare providers.

The companies said they hope the new organization will manage the care of more than 270,000 individuals and increase medical costs under management to $11 billion by 2025.

“The new InterWell Health will bring together physicians, care management teams, and providers to ensure we show up as one team and provide the best possible experience for the patients who entrust us with their care,” Bill Valle, chief executive officer of care delivery for Fresenius Medical Care,” said in the press release. “Cricket Health’s predictive analytics and patient engagement platform combined with the physician-led clinical approach of InterWell Health and Fresenius Health Partners’ experience and expertise in value-based care will position the organization for accelerated growth.”

The merged company will aim to reduce costs for public and private payers, health systems, and other healthcare stakeholders who take risks for the patient population living with chronic kidney disease. The company said it would do this through increased transparency and accountability.

Leaders said that the new organization would expand physician support and develop value-based care models that cater to specific communities.

Additionally, the new organization means to improve patient quality of life by reducing hospital admissions and readmissions, slowing disease progression, increasing transplant referrals and rates, accelerating the transition to home dialysis, and improving health equity.

Cricket Health will contribute its machine learning and predictive glomerular filtration rate (GFR) model to help slow disease progression. The technology will allow the merged company to identify and risk-stratify patients before kidney failure with a 96 percent accuracy rate, the press release said. This will give patients ample time to choose a treatment option

The new company will also be able to reach more patients across the country with Cricket’s online patient engagement platform.

“At Cricket Health, our mission is to help our patients live their best lives. This combination advances our ability to do just that,” Robert Sepucha, chief executive officer of Cricket, stated in the press release. “Each patient’s situation and needs are unique, and the new organization will offer groundbreaking solutions from machine learning to highly personalized engagement that keep patients healthy, at home, and out of the hospital.”

Additionally, the company will benefit from InterWell Health’s nephrologist network. The physician organization offers individualized care to patients with any stage of kidney disease, including around-the-clock patient support services and access to the KidneyCare:365 program dedicated to care coordination.

The Supervisory Board of Fresenius Medical Care Management AG, the InterWell Health Board of Directors, and the Cricket Health Board of Directors have approved the proposed transaction. Closing is subject to regulatory review, with the company anticipating finalizing the deal in the second half of 2022.