What You Should Know:
– Ontrak acquires LifeDojo Inc, a San Francisco, CA-based comprehensive, science-backed behavior change platform.
– The acquisition broadens Ontrak’s addressable market and footprint to lower acuity populations enabling new interventions and remote patient monitoring.
Ontrak, Inc., a leading AI-powered and telehealth-enabled, virtualized healthcare company, today announced that it has acquired LifeDojo Inc, a comprehensive, science-backed behavior change platform. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Behavior Change Platform for Consumers and Employers
Founded in 2013, LifeDojo is a platform that makes transformative life changes possible for members in over 16 countries. Supported by decades of public health research, the LifeDojo approach to member-centric behavior change delivers lasting health improvement outcomes, high enrollment, and better engagement than traditional programs. Clients include Fortune 500 companies and high-tech, high-growth organizations who use LifeDojo’s 32 behavior change modules.
COVID-19 Spawns Mental Health Surge
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) this month reported accumulating evidence of a “second wave” mental health surge that will present monumental challenges for an already greatly strained mental health system and individuals at high risk for mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. A June 2020 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 5,412 US adults found that 40.9% of respondents reported “at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and substance abuse, with rates that were three to four times the rates one year ago.
4 Ways LifeDojo Acquisition Advances Ontrak’s Growth Strategy
With the coronavirus pandemic rapidly increasing demand for “telemental” health solutions, the acquisition of LifeDojo is expected to advance the Ontrak growth strategy in four ways:
First, the acquisition adds a technology-first, digital business deployed by blue chip customers in the employer space.
Second, LifeDojo enhances Ontrak’s market-leading behavioral health engagement capabilities for new and existing customers, with the addition of the LifeDojo digital tools that drive member value and lower cost. The combination of behavioral health coaching and digital app-based solutions meets accelerated payer demand for a comprehensive suite of behavioral health services and solutions.
Third, the LifeDojo platform increases the company’s addressable market by enabling the creation of lower cost, digital interventions across behavioral health and chronic disease populations.
Fourth, LifeDojo’s member-facing apps enable remote patient monitoring capabilities, initially focused on member reported data, that will feed Ontrak AI capabilities and further personalize Ontrak’s evidence-based coaching.
“As a public company and leader in virtualized healthcare, Ontrak is uniquely positioned to attract companies, products and technologies that expand our value proposition and footprint with health plan and employer partners. We will endeavor to make additional strategic purchases that expand our addressable market and maximize customer value. LifeDojo and these other intended acquisitions can possibly expand our total addressable $33.7 billion market by up to 100%,” said Mr. Terren Peizer, Chairman and CEO of Ontrak.
