Hint Health, a direct primary care (DPC) digital health company, announced a new partnership with DPC provider Nextera Healthcare on Wednesday. The partnership aims to expand the network of DPC providers available to employers.
Based in San Francisco Hint HelloHintOS’ HintOS product helps DPC providers with member enrollment, billing, invoicing, payments and other services. These providers can serve both employers and consumers, with the latter paying a monthly membership of $50 to $100 for unlimited access to primary care. The company also offers Hint Connect, which provides a national network of DPC providers to employers and third-party administrators. Longmont, Colorado Nexterameanwhile, was the first DPC provider in Colorado and has grown to offer care in over 100 locations in Colorado, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the East Coast. It serves both employers and consumers.
Through the partnership, Nextera joins Hint Connect’s network of over 350 clinicians. That means any employer that contracts with Hint Connect will be able to give their employees access to Nextera providers, along with everyone else on the platform, said Zach Holdsworth, co-founder and CEO of Hint Health. For example, if a large employer group is looking for direct primary care providers in Colorado, Nextera will show up as an option.
Additionally, if Nextera wants to add more providers to its network, they can do so through Hint Connect, Holdsworth said.
“[Nextera] can actually turn around and say, ‘Hey, we need to have DPC clinics in Texas.’ They can turn around and contract with those DPC providers in Texas through Hint Connect and expand their footprint,” he said in an interview. “They don’t need to go out and build that network themselves. They’re on the supply side of Hint Connect, but they’re also on the demand side.”
Nextera already uses the HintOS solution and has a strong relationship with Hint Health, Holdsworth said. But by joining Hint Connect, the company can reach more employers across the country. Meanwhile, Hint Health is able to deepen the Colorado presence it has highest number of DPC clinics per capita. The state has nearly 90 DPC clinics catering to 63,000 patients.
“The Hint Connect partnership will enable greater reach as Nextera Healthcare continues to expand our employer healthcare footprint across the US,” said Dr. Clint Flanagan, founder and CEO of Nextera, in an email.
Through this partnership, Holdsworth hopes to make DPC more mainstream. DPC patient membership grew 241% in the US from 2017 to 2021, according to report from Hint Health.
“My goal is to be able to help Nextera and the many other vendors that are part of Hint Connect grow faster,” Holdsworth said. “If we can help them grow faster, then we can help the [DPC] the movement grows faster. This is really the main purpose of Hint Connect. It is truly designed to be a movement growth accelerator.
Hint Health recently expanded its company with acquisition AeroDPC, a software company and electronic medical record for DPC clinics. Other direct primary care companies include Cheers forward and EverMed. There are about 1,600 DPC practices in 48 states, according to the Coalition for Direct Primary Care.
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