The SCAN Group, most recognizable thanks to its Medicare Advantage (MA) SCAN Health Plan, has made a strategic investment in the home-focused company MedArrive.
MedArrive is a health care logistics and services platform that enables payers and providers to leverage EMTs, paramedics and other health care workers to bring more care into the home. The Long Beach, California-based SCAN Group’s MA plan serves more than 220,000 members.
SCAN declined to disclose financial specifics of the investment, but Binoy Bhansali, the corporate VP of corporate development, told Home Health Care News that it’ll likely be “just the start” of its relations with MedArrive.
“If [MedArrive] continues to progress, and we see a lot of good value in the company, we expect to continue to invest in the company and support it over time,” Bhansali said.
He also added that SCAN would “absolutely” be looking for more investments to make in the home-based care space in the near term.
In fact, the company sees its investments in companies like MedArrive — along with its recent investment in the at-home kidney management care company Monogram Health — as a way to begin evolving as a company.
“We are excited about our evolution, from becoming a MA plan to an entity that’s able to meet members’ needs across the health care value chain,” Bhansali said. “From a framing perspective, that’s how we think about our broader diversification strategy. It’s about how many more lives we impact in a positive way. And an investment in MedArrive is a step toward that goal.”
As part of the investment, Bhansali will join MedArrive’s board of directors as an observer.
While SCAN has had an at-home focus since its inception, it’s now making more major investments into the space that could alter how the organization operates long term.
The Uber Health (NYSE: UBER) veteran Dan Trigub launched MedArrive in 2020, and his relationship with SCAN leaders eventually led to talks that resulted in the investment.
An initial partnership between the two was made in order to increase vaccination rates for specific demographics of homebound seniors, which worked out well.
“So that’s the context for how the relationship came to be, and now, we are without a doubt in a phase of explosive growth in bringing care to the home,” Bhansali said. “And whether it’s on the primary care side through our investment in Welcome Health or MedArrive, or bringing other health care professionals into the home over time, it’s an incredible chassis to make sure that we’re meeting members’ needs comprehensively and holistically.”
As of now, SCAN views the investment as both a strategic and a financial one.
“When we can see a path to a long-lasting, deep strategic partnership with a vendor, it makes sense to invest to ensure that we’re aligned, and that we can be at the table to shape the company’s strategy and really contribute to its growth,” Bhansali said. “And we’re also really excited about the potential of this investment, not just for impact on patient lives, but financial return as well. I think they’re well positioned, have an excellent team and have a unique offering in the market.”
MedArrive has more than 50,000 highly-skilled field providers, including the EMS professionals in its national network. Its offerings include complex condition monitoring, transitional care, readmission prevention, vaccinations, medication administration and more.
The relatively new company sees this investment as a way to advance its growth and mission in a speedier fashion moving forward.
“Enabling access to high-quality care for more people, particularly older adults and others not adequately served by today’s medical system, is at the heart of our mission at MedArrive,” Trigub, the CEO and co-founder of MedArrive, said in a release. “This investment from SCAN Group … is validation of our unique approach and belief that the future of healthcare lies in the home.”
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