Transcarent, healthtech entrepreneur Glen Tullman’s latest venture, will acquire part of AI-powered primary care startup 98point6 in a deal worth up to $100 million.
Tullman tells Forbes the transaction includes 98point6’s physician group, self-insured employer business and an irrevocable software license. 98point6 has developed an AI chatbot that collects information via a text exchange with the patient and summarizes it for a human doctor who then takes over the chat. Tullman, who cofounded Palo Alto-based Transcarent in 2020, says the transaction is worth up to $100 million – contingent on hitting certain milestones. “We’re putting AI front and center,” he says.
This means Transcarent will now directly employ more than 150 doctors and clinical support staff. 98point6 CEO Jay Burell tells Forbes his Seattle-based startup will stop providing care directly to patients and pivot to a “pure play technology company” rebranded as 98point6 Technologies that will license its software to health systems. The deal is expected to close by March 31.
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Transcarent is Tullman’s fourth round as a startup CEO. He’s taken three companies public: Enterprise Systems, Allscripts and Livongo. This is his big swing at the notoriously challenging self-insured employer market. Haven Health, an attempt to lower employer healthcare costs by a trio of corporate juggernauts – Amazon, J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway – disbanded within three years.
Aon estimates the average cost for employers paying for their employees’ healthcare will rise by 6.5 percent in 2023. “If you think about healthcare today, what’s the enemy?” asks Tullman. “Complexity is the enemy and what we provide is simplicity.”
The idea behind Transcarent is to reduce the bureaucratic nightmare of finding doctors and getting high quality care with a one-stop shop. It lets users talk to a primary care doctor and order prescriptions through an app. It helps them set up in-home care. It shepherds them through surgeries or complex care, such as cancer treatment.
Tullman says Transcarent already offers 24/7 access to a doctor within 60 seconds via its app, but the startup previously used third-party contractors. This acquisition brings things in-house: Transcarent will now be using 98point6’s software and physician group to offer near instantaneous text-based care to patients. “That’s what everybody wants,” says Tullman. “You want an instant response.”
