SOC Telemed on Thursday announced its acquisition of Forefront Telecare, a company that specializes in behavioral health telemedicine services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As part of the transaction, the combined enterprise is rebranding to “Access TeleCare.”
The Dallas-based SOC Telemed bills itself as the largest national provider of specialty acute care telemedicine. The company, founded in 2004, has been a pioneer in in-patient telemedicine, working with more than 2,500 active telemedicine programs across 10 medical specialities in hospitals in every state.
SOC, now Access TeleCare, also works with long-term care facilities, home health companies and physician practices. Its services focus on everything from behavioral health and critical care, to maternal-fetal medicine, infectious diseases, cardiology and more.
SOC Telemed and Forefront had been working closely together “for the last several years,” according to Dr. Chris Gallagher, CEO of Access TeleCare.
“This acquisition takes our existing partnership to the next level and expands our behavioral provider network by over 300%,” Gallagher said in a statement. “Our combined capabilities and reach will allow us to serve more hospitals and more patients with behavioral health needs, delivering on our promise of ensuring every patient has timely access to specialty care, no matter where or when they need care.”
Hamilton, New Jersey-based Forefront Telecare offers a range of virtual behavioral health solutions across the care continuum, targeting seniors and other high-risk patient populations. Its clinical team includes over 400 psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed clinical social workers.
The company has seen rapid growth over the past few years, partly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, for example, Forefront delivered more than 10,000 behavioral telehealth visits each month.
“By joining forces with the largest provider of acute care telemedicine in this country, we are excited by how much more we will be able to do together to solve the behavioral health crisis facing our country,” Forefront CEO Rob Rebak said in a statement.
Rebak will report to Gallagher moving forward.
The purchase of Forefront and subsequent rebranding to Access TeleCare comes during a busy, identity-defining year for SOC Telemed.
Health care investment firm Patient Square Capital announced in February plans to buy the business, which, at the time, was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under “TLMD.” That deal valued SOC at roughly $304.2 million.
SOC became a private company when the Patient Square Capital transaction was finalized about four months ago. Originally, SOC went public in November 2020 via a merger with Healthcare Merger Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Prior to Forefront Telecare, SOC had purchased Access Physicians at a $194 million valuation in March 2021.
For context, SOC’s 2021 full-year revenue totaled about $94.4 million, up 63% compared to $58 million in the previous year.
On its end, Forefront has raised a total of $16 million since its founding, according to Crunchbase. Its investors include Ziegler Link-Age Funds, Tech Council Ventures, Boston Millennia Partners and Spring Lake Equity Partners.
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