Harbor Well being, an Austin, Texas-based major and specialty care clinic group and medical health insurance firm, has acquired dementia care platform Rippl.
Rippl’s dementia care platform is constructed to assist seniors dwelling with dementia stay at dwelling and out of the emergency division, hospital, and post-acute settings.
The acquisition advances Harbor Well being’s technique to develop its condition-focused care pathways and strengthen the corporate’s built-in mannequin, which mixes experience in continual situation administration and entry to coordinated, reasonably priced medical health insurance.
Harbor stresses that providing care and protection mixed permits suppliers to take higher care of individuals via each step of the well being journey, higher aligning insurance coverage advantages with the precise care.
As a part of the deal for an undisclosed sum, Rippl’s buyers are making a brand new dedication to the mixed firm. Key buyers embrace Kin Ventures, ARCH Enterprise Companions, Basic Catalyst, GV (Google Ventures), F-Prime Capital, JSL Well being, and Mass Basic Brigham Ventures.
Harbor Well being was co-founded by Clay Johnston, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., who beforehand served because the inaugural dean of the College of Texas at Austin Dell Medical College. In a December 2024 interview with Healthcare Innovation, Johnston described his bold targets:
“What we’re attempting to do is create the entire working system. Presently, all the pieces works on charge for service, and there is the RVU system that form of drives clinician habits, and there are copays, coinsurance, deductibles,” he stated. “What we’re attempting to do is rebuild all of that stuff to vary the underlying incentive constructions and working system in order that it then can turn into extra simply exportable.”
In October 2024, Healthcare Innovation interviewed Rippl Co-founder and CEO Kris Engskov concerning the alternative for value-based fashions in dementia care. On the time, the Seattle-based firm had just lately raised $23 million in Sequence A capital to fund its multi-state enlargement.
A former Starbucks govt, Engskov mentioned Rippl’s founding and participation within the CMS Innovation Heart Guiding an Improved Dementia Expertise (GUIDE) Mannequin, which has 390 collaborating organizations constructing dementia care packages to serve a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals with Medicare nationwide.
“We’ve all the time understood skilled dementia care works finest when it’s deeply built-in with major care, and we’re excited to see Harbor Well being scale this platform as a part of its broader effort to ship condition-focused care and higher outcomes whereas dramatically decreasing pointless prices,” Engskov stated in an announcement.
The acquisition additionally expands Harbor Well being’s companies into the Florida market. Following its 2025 acquisition of 32 VillageMD clinics, Harbor Well being stated it continues to develop its evidence-based care pathways. The dementia care program can be out there to individuals receiving care at Harbor Well being and VillageMD areas in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and El Paso. As well as, Rippl companies will proceed to be offered to Medicare Benefit members in addition to seniors lined by conventional Medicare via CMS’ GUIDE program.
“Integrating Rippl’s dementia platform into our increasing library of condition-focused care pathways provides our well being groups one other highly effective instrument to handle advanced well being wants,” stated Tony Miller, Harbor Well being co-founder and CEO, in an announcement. “As our well being plan membership grows quickly, these pathways are important for holding protection extra reasonably priced and taking higher care of individuals. That’s our precedence.”
