Harbor Well being, an Austin, Texas-based major and specialty care clinic group and medical insurance firm, has acquired dementia care platform Rippl.
Rippl’s dementia care platform is constructed to assist seniors dwelling with dementia stay at residence and out of the emergency division, hospital, and post-acute settings.
The acquisition advances Harbor Well being’s technique to increase its condition-focused care pathways and strengthen the corporate’s built-in mannequin, which mixes experience in persistent situation administration and entry to coordinated, reasonably priced medical 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 best care.
As a part of the deal for an undisclosed sum, Rippl’s traders are making a brand new dedication to the mixed firm. Key traders embrace Kin Ventures, ARCH Enterprise Companions, Normal Catalyst, GV (Google Ventures), F-Prime Capital, JSL Well being, and Mass Normal 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 making an attempt to do is create the entire working system. Presently, every little thing works on charge for service, and there is the RVU system that type of drives clinician habits, and there are copays, coinsurance, deductibles,” he stated. “What we’re making an attempt to do is rebuild all of that stuff to alter the underlying incentive constructions and working system in order that it then can change into extra simply exportable.”
In October 2024, Healthcare Innovation interviewed Rippl Co-founder and CEO Kris Engskov in regards to the alternative for value-based fashions in dementia care. On the time, the Seattle-based firm had not too long ago raised $23 million in Collection A capital to fund its multi-state growth.
A former Starbucks government, 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 at all times understood knowledgeable dementia care works greatest 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 lowering pointless prices,” Engskov stated in an announcement.
The acquisition additionally expands Harbor Well being’s providers into the Florida market. Following its 2025 acquisition of 32 VillageMD clinics, Harbor Well being stated it continues to increase its evidence-based care pathways. The dementia care program will likely be accessible to individuals receiving care at Harbor Well being and VillageMD places in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and El Paso. As well as, Rippl providers will proceed to be supplied 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 protecting protection extra reasonably priced and taking higher care of individuals. That’s our precedence.”
