Acquisition Enables Company to Provide More High-Value, Patient-Centered Services Through Its Network of More Than 1,000 Independent Primary Care Practices and Health Centers

Bethesda, Md. -- January 11, 2022 -- Aledade, the leading primary care enablement company, announced today that it has acquired Iris Healthcare, the best-in-class provider of Advance Care Planning (ACP) solutions for tens of thousands of patients across the country. By helping more patients receive care consistent with their values, their preferences, and the best clinical evidence, Aledade’s first acquisition will augment the support that Aledade delivers to its nationwide network of more than 1,000 independent primary care practices and health centers.

As part of the transaction, Iris Healthcare will become a part of Aledade Care Solutions, Aledade’s new health services unit. This unit will give Aledade practices new ways to improve patient outcomes and lower costs by integrating new patient care solutions. 

The acquisition of Iris Healthcare and the establishment of a new health services arm come on the heels of significant growth for Aledade. The network of practices and health centers working with Aledade now spans 37 states and has grown by 20 percent over the last year. Aledade’s value-based care contracts collectively cover more than 1.7 million patients and manage roughly $17 billion in total health care spending through 98 Medicare and 47 other value-based contracts. For the second straight year, the company is profitable, with gross revenue of over $300 million in 2021 and believes that it is currently on the path to more than double that by 2023. Aledade, Aledade Care Solutions, and Iris Healthcare are all poised for significant ongoing growth in the coming years.

"Today, more than 1.7 million patients are getting better primary care from their own family physicians – more engaged, more accessible, and more empowered primary care,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, CEO and co-founder of Aledade. “We've seen the results, in reduced emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and lives saved, when it's more profitable to prevent a stroke than to treat it. But there is more that we can do. With Aledade Care Solutions, we can now bring the first of a series of additional services that are most valuable to patients and families, and also more profitable, when delivered in a value-based world through referrals by primary care clinicians whom patients trust. Empowering and enabling primary care means extending what primary care practices can do, and we’re excited to begin this new chapter by welcoming Iris Healthcare to the Aledade team.”

Iris Healthcare is a scalable, personalized, virtual platform model specially designed for  comprehensive ACP. Comprehensive ACP is a robust process designed to ensure that people receive medical care consistent with their values, goals, and preferences during serious and chronic illness by formally documenting those wishes in an advance directive. Despite robust literature demonstrating that participation in an ACP program can help improve patient health outcomes and lower unnecessary care utilization, thereby lowering costs, Medicare data reports that only about 2.8 percent of seniors end up having these discussions with their doctor. The acquisition follows a successful pilot program completed by the companies, which demonstrated better outcomes, higher patient satisfaction and lower costs when using Iris’ service as well as significant improvements through use of Aledade’s predictive algorithm and data, helping better identify patients who could most benefit from ACP.

“We are thrilled to be part of Aledade," said Steve Wardle, president and CEO of Iris Healthcare. "Aledade and Iris Healthcare share a vision for scaling value-based primary care in a way that benefits patients and physicians. Partnering with Aledade's seasoned leadership team strengthens our ability to ensure that patients receive the care they desire and avoid the care they don’t."

Also joining Aledade as it enters this next phase of growth is a new member of its Board of Directors and Chair of its Audit Committee, Michelle Ryan, who recently retired as Treasurer of Johnson & Johnson after nearly 30 years of experience in health care leadership and finance. In her role as Treasurer, Michelle managed key relationships with external partners such as credit rating agencies and investment banks while also providing strategic financial support to acquisitions, divestitures, and licenses. At J&J, Michelle previously served as VP of Finance and CFO of the Global Consumer Group, VP of Finance and CFO of America's Pharmaceuticals, and VP of Finance and CFO Biotechnology, Immunology & Oncology.

About Aledade
Founded in 2014, Aledade is the leading physician enablement company helping independent practices, health centers, and clinics deliver better care to their patients and thrive in value-based care. Through its proven, scalable model, which includes cutting-edge data analytics, user-friendly guided workflows, regulatory expertise, strong payer relationships, and  integrated care solutions  delivered through Aledade Care Solutions, Aledade empowers physicians to succeed financially by keeping people healthy. Together with more than 1,000 practices in 37 states, Aledade shares in the risk and reward across more than 140 value-based contracts representing more than 1.7 million patient lives under management. To learn more, visit www.aledade.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
We provide the foregoing cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied in this press release. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the use of such terms as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “believe,” “plan” “estimate,” forecast,” “project.” “anticipate,” “to be,” “to make” or other comparable terms. All forward-looking statements by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements include the impact of the acquisition announced in this press release, as well as our expectations about future revenue and profitability.