Cardinal Health subsidiary naviHealth has acquired Rightcare Solutions, which makes a discharge decision support platform designed to reduce readmissions. RightCare flags patients at risk for readmissions when they’re admitted to the hospital, helping nurses and discharge planners decide on whether patients need post-acute care.

The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

naviHealth works with health plans, health systems, physicians and post-acute providers on post-acute care management. Among the company’s partners are Highmark, Hospital Corp of America, Kaiser Permanente, and Dignity Health.

The deal comes as hospitals feel the pressure from ACA regulations to better serve patients or face reduced reimbursement.“As the evolution toward value-based care and new payment models continues to gain momentum, health systems are increasingly recognizing the need to embrace new technologies that can help achieve lower costs and improved patient outcomes. Moreover, the newly proposed CMS conditions of participation focused on quality and timeliness of discharge planning makes the acquisition of RightCare very strategic at this point in time… that translate into real ROI,” said naviHealth CEO Clay Richards. “The combination of our post-acute decision support and clinical analytics with RightCare’s integrated discharge planning capabilities will further accelerate our ability to deliver a unique value proposition to health systems as they look to manage post-acute care in an evolving market. We see this as a perfect fit for our business goals and are extremely excited for what RightCare and its people can bring to naviHealth.”

Cardinal Health acquired a majority stake in naviHealth, 71 percent, for $290 million in August this year.

[Via: MedCityNews]