Today Navvis and Esse Health, leaders in population health and value-based care, announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement and are forming a new healthcare company called Surround Care. The board of directors and shareholders of Navvis and Esse Health have approved the combination and it is set to close on October 31, 2022.
Surround Care, the parent company of Navvis and Esse Health, projects revenues of $663.5 million in 2022 and has:
- 1,200 employees
- Operations in 9 states
- Over 4 million attributed patients being served
- 2.53 million commercial lives
- 565,000 Medicare lives
- 930,000 Medicaid lives
- 4,600 affiliated physicians
The Surround Care model supports all physicians, all payers, all lines of business, all payment models, and all populations. The company is actively engaged in all government value-based payment models ranging from total cost of care risk, percent of premium risk, shared savings, and pay for quality performance. With a track record of delivering 5-star quality and total cost of care far below the national average, Surround Care patients report exceptionally high levels of patient satisfaction, with a score of 95.7, which is in the top quintile nationwide. Physician retention is greater than 98% over the last three years, and physicians rank their professional fulfillment higher than the 95th percentile based on the last American Medical Group Association survey.
The merger will accelerate the shared goal of making healthcare work better for all; those who need care, those who provide care, and those who pay for care. Together, Navvis and Esse Health will offer a new business model that extends, restores, and amplifies the professional satisfaction of physicians while addressing affordability, quality, access, and experience. The combination brings practical applications and capabilities to accelerate the change needed across health systems, health plans, and physician enterprises in population health and value-based care.
“Esse Health’s clinical excellence and operational rigor are revered in our industry. Their physicians and leaders aspire to share their approach to outstanding care delivery with other physician enterprises around the country. Together, we will accelerate our work to make the practice of medicine more sustainable while advancing healthcare affordability, quality, access, and experience,” said Mike Farris, chairman and chief executive officer of Surround Care and chairman and chief executive officer of Navvis. “Surround Care will exponentially advance our ability to meet the unique needs of our market partners. We will deploy innovative new structures for joint ventures, business combinations, and other partnership models. Surround Care will give our partners an advantage as the industry rapidly innovates around new payment and care delivery models.”
Esse Health will continue its 27-year mission to serve patients and families with compassionate, comprehensive, and convenient medical services, while Navvis will continue to serve health systems, physician enterprises, and health plans to advance performance and scale in value-based contracting and optimize the health of populations. Esse Health’s experience and expertise will be integrated into Navvis’ solution, enriching the physician-focused approach and serving as a center of excellence, training facility, and learning lab for Navvis and its partners.
“We continue to invest and grow in the St. Louis and Southern Illinois communities and have a mission to bring our innovative care approach to other physicians. The combination with Navvis provides us access to the capabilities and scale necessary to realize this mission,” said David Kearney, chief executive officer of Esse Health. “We evaluated many strategic options to further our mission. Combining with Navvis opens tremendous opportunities for us at the national level as we advance our longstanding commitment to the communities we serve, our colleagues, and the medical profession at large.”
“We’ve found great success when patients are at the center of care and physicians are surrounded by a team-based model focused on value,” said David Hartenbach, M.D., chairman of the board of Esse Health. “Our physicians have preserved the joy of practicing medicine, and patients feel supported and cared for throughout their lives. When we combine with Navvis’ ability to move large healthcare organizations to a scalable population health operating model, we create a new system that is financially sustainable and helps physicians and patients thrive. We invite other physicians and physician enterprises to join us on this journey.”
“Population health and value-based care strategies empower healthcare leaders to solve some of the most complex problems they face including financial pressures, physician burnout, and improving the health of a population,” said David B. Nash, M.D., MBA, founding dean emeritus of the Jefferson College of Population Health and author of “How Covid Crashed the System: A Guide to Fixing American Health Care.“ With the clinical brilliance of Esse Health and the operational expertise of Navvis, Surround Care ushers in a new way for physicians, health systems, and health plans to work together in delivering exceptional patient care.”
Navvis and Esse Health will continue to operate as individual business units and wholly-owned subsidiaries of Surround Care. Mike Farris will serve as the chairman and chief executive officer of Surround Care, supported by a board of directors made up of leaders from health systems, health plans, and physician enterprises. The leadership team will oversee the strategic direction, performance, and scalability of the combined company.
About Surround Care
Surround Care is a St. Louis-based population healthcare company working to optimize the most sacred relationship in healthcare, the physician-patient relationship. The organization is transforming care delivery and delivering transformative care with the resources, services, and operational management needed to support physicians, their care teams, and practices to improve clinical and financial outcomes. Surround Care operates in nine markets across the country, supporting more than 4,600 affiliated physicians and more than 4 million managed value-based care lives.
About Esse Health
Esse Health is a St. Louis-based, independent physician group that strives to improve the overall well-being of its patients through patient education, lifestyle modification and prevention. Esse Health’s adult and pediatric primary care offices have been awarded Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) 2014 Level 3 recognition by the National Committee on Quality Assurance. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Million Hearts Initiative recognized Esse Health as a Hypertension Control Champion for its success in helping patients control their high blood pressure. With 50 locations throughout the St. Louis and Metro East area, Esse Health’s services include asthma, allergy and immunology, child psychiatry, family medicine, gastroenterology, internal medicine, nutrition, orthopedics, pediatrics, radiology, and urology. Esse Health is a recognized leader in using technology in health care and physician accountability for both quality and cost of care.
About Navvis
Navvis is transforming healthcare for millions of people and thousands of physicians and their practices. As an operating partner to some of the country’s most innovative health systems, health plans, and physician enterprises, we provide solutions that accelerate the journey to value-based care. Our approach is market-based – we respect the unique needs of populations in each community, including access to care, culture, values, and capabilities. Together with our partners, we set a new national standard in healthcare performance that delivers the affordability, quality, access, and experience that all patients deserve.
