Denver-based AeroDPC, a software company that supports electronic medical records, announced Wednesday that it was acquired by Hint Health, a San Francisco health tech startup that's expanding its reach in the direct primary care market.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Following the acquisition, AeroDPC will operate as an independent subsidiary of Hint Health, and next year, Hint will launch a new product that combines AeroDPC's technology with its own. The platform will offer business and billing management, electronic medical records support, lab integrations and patient communication, among other features.
"Bringing Hint Health and AeroDPC together is extremely exciting and powerful for [direct primary care] as a whole," Dr. Brad Brown, the co-founder of AeroDPC, said in a statement. "Having an all-in-one solution allows doctors to take their eyes off the computer screen and focus solely on their patients. With this acquisition, doctors and patients alike will further benefit from the streamlined products, enabling us to better serve the [direct primary care] community.”
Brothers Kyle and Brad Brown co-founded AeroDPC in Denver last year. Brad Brown, a direct primary care doctor, had the idea for the company while he was doing rotations in medical school and saw the need for improved note-taking functionality.
Kyle Brown, a software engineer, stepped in to build out the technology. Brown was the first doctor to use the AeroDPC platform before the brothers began enrolling other providers in 2021.
"We've created something that is really changing the market, as well as providing a service that can help doctors change the world for each one of their patients individually," Brad Brown said in a statement.
According to a news release, Brad Brown will become Hint Health's medical director following the acquisition.
Both AeroDPC and Hint Health develop software for direct primary care providers. Graham Melcher and Zak Holdsworth founded Hint Health in 2013 to give doctors the software tools needed to operate and administer membership-based, independent direct care practices that operate outside of health insurance.
There are more than 1,800 direct primary care practices in the United States, according to a D.C.-based industry group called the Direct Primary Care Coalition. Through the membership model, patients pay a monthly fee in exchange for unlimited access to their primary care doctor. This model claims to allow patients cost transparency, shorter wait times for appointments and increased access to their doctors in between visits.
"This acquisition will better enable Hint to fulfill our mission by providing practices who are getting started in direct primary care with a simple, affordable, all-in-one solution designed specifically for the [direct primary care] community,” Holdsworth said in a statement. “It will also serve as a blueprint for how we can further enhance new and existing partner integrations within the Hint ecosystem, which is a strategic priority for Hint.”
This is Hint Health's second acquisition. In 2021, it acquired Detroit-based Equal Health, a primary care and benefits provider. Around the same time, Hint raised $45 million in private equity during its Series B round.
Holdsworth told Axios that Hint is "on a path to profitability." He also told the news outlet that the company planned to make more acquisitions in the near future as it expands and considers adding products for specialty care.
— Sara Bloomberg from Bay Area Inno contributed.
