Oak Street Health — a network of value-based primary care offices for Medicare beneficiaries — has filed the initial paperwork to go public. The Chicago-based organization announced the news Friday.
While Oak Street Health doesn’t provide home health care itself, its interdisciplinary care teams are equipped to provide telehealth visits and in-home care in addition to center-based services. Plus, its mission to help seniors age in place aligns with that of home-based care agencies, and Oak Street’s growing presence could mean more opportunities for those providers down the line.
When the initial public offering (IPO) process is complete, Oak Street plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the stock symbol “OSH.” While the company has yet to determine the number of shares it will offer or their price, the S-1 form Oak Street filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lists its proposed maximum offering price as $100 million.
Founded in 2012, Oak Street Health operates more than 50 centers across eight states, serving more than 85,000 patients, mostly under capitation arrangements. It provides a variety of services, such as those in the behavioral health, pharmacy and primary care realm, just to name a few examples.
The company boasted $200 million in revenues for Q1 2020 on its S-1 — a 72% year-over-year increase. It estimates the annual total addressable market size as about $325 billion, according to the S-1.
Home Health Care News reached out to Oak Street Health for additional details on the IPO, but the company declined further comment for this story.
However, Oak Street did connect with HHCN back in 2017. At the time, then-senior vice president of growth and business development John Woolley told HHCN it was not formally partnering with any home health providers, but rather that it works with various organizations on a patient-by-patient basis.
Still, Woolley said it was open to establishing home health partnerships in the future. The idea is to serve as many seniors as possible who might otherwise struggle to remain in their own homes as they age.
“Nine out of 10 patients recommend us, but there is still a lot to be done,” Woolley said in 2017. “We are just scratching the surface for a population of patients that has been underserved.”
Then, in 2018, the company added Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED) President and CEO Paul Kusserow to its board of directors.
Kusserow is expected to be elected to Oak Street’s board of directors once the offering is completed, according to the S-1.
“Kusserow is a valuable member of our Board due to his experience as an executive at several large health care companies and as the CEO of a public healthcare services company,” the S-1 said.
While it’s unclear what Oak Street’s relationship with home-based care providers will be going forward, it’s promising to see home health represented in its leadership.
Additionally, the more organizations working to keep seniors at home as they age, the more opportunities home-based care providers will have to help them in one way or another.
Oak Street attempting to go public comes less than a month after the company’s most recent expansion.
In June, Oak Street announced it will establish hubs in New York and Mississippi by the end of 2020. Timing wise, the expansion will allow Oak Street to serve more vulnerable populations amid the ongoing coronavirus public health emergency.
Since its founding, Oak Street has seen a 51% reduction in patient hospital admissions compared to overall Medicare benchmarks, according to the company.
“We have been able to meet the unique challenges presented by the pandemic, and our ability to adapt and provide care for our patients at this critical time is a testament to Oak Street Health’s innovative value-based health care model,” CEO Mike Pykosz said in a statement. “Our patients always come first, and with our upcoming entry into New York and Mississippi, we are furthering our company’s mission of rebuilding health care as it should be.”
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