Grand Rounds, Doctor On Demand Merge To Advance Virtual Healthcare

Healthcare navigation firm Grand Rounds is merging with the telehealth platform Doctor On Demand to create the first virtual healthcare company in the U.S.

“No one has done this before, combining navigation and virtual care delivery. We think it’s the future,” Grand Rounds Co-Founder and CEO Owen Tripp said in a Tuesday (March 16) press release.

“People make unguided healthcare decisions every day, often with higher costs and worse outcomes. Now, with Doctor On Demand, we’ll offer them coordinated support on all fronts — physical, behavioral, financial, administrative — and we’ll do it for everything from acute issues to life-long health. This is truly complete care, and it’s what we all need,” Tripp added.

Tripp will serve as the CEO of the combined company but for now, both firms will run under their existing brands, according to the press release. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal should close before the end of the summer.

The merged companies will offer patients and healthcare providers an extensive menu of interactive, digital tools as a way to help address the $300 billion problem of uncoordinated care in the U.S., according to the release. Grand Rounds’ patient advocacy tools and data-driven clinical navigation platform will complement Doctor On Demand’s virtual medical care, which will provide users with a streamlined experience.

“We’re building a next-generation virtual care company with a nationwide practice of diverse, dedicated providers and a multidisciplinary care team,” said Doctor On Demand CEO Hill Ferguson. “By fully integrating medical and behavioral healthcare with clinical navigation, we’re impacting healthcare where it actually happens — between a patient and their provider —and ensuring that experience is seamless, personalized, and can follow the patient wherever they go.”

The pandemic fueled an escalation in telehealth that is now gaining noteworthy traction and attention from Washington, D.C. In a PYMNTS interview, Doctor On Demand’s Ferguson told Karen Webster that healthcare is returning to the home base after a century of brick and mortar locations serving people’s medical needs. He said in-home medical care is more expedient and is as good or better going to the doctor’s office.

Bill Marvin, CEO at InstaMed, told Karen Webster in a PYMNTS interview that the healthcare industry’s acceptance of telehealth tech will lead to integrated online payments that will bring patients a better experience.