Four to five other health systems are expected to be pursued by Risant in the coming years.
Risant Health has taken the first and most important step to forming its value-based network by completing the acquisition of Geisinger Health, nearly one year after announcing its plans for the unique model.
In Geisinger, Kaiser Permanente’s Risant has its initial health system for building out its organization, which is expected to add four to five other systems in the next half-decade to reach a total revenue of $30 to $35 billion.
Despite some concerns that regulators may intervene, the deal appeared to meet little resistance and was approved by federal and state agencies, Risant said, likely due to the lack of geographical overlap between the operators.
Geisinger will keep its name and continue in its mission, but now with “access to capital, technology and resources to fuel improvements in facilities, drive innovation and investment in patient care, and continue the expansion of Geisinger Health Plan.”
Jaewon Ryu, who has served as Geisinger’s president and CEO since 2019, will transition to CEO of Risant, while Terry Gilliland will take over Ryu’s previous role.
“Geisinger is proud to formally join Risant Health as its inaugural health system, which will accelerate our vision to make better health easier, more affordable and more accessible for the communities we serve,” Ryu said in the release. “Geisinger now can extend its vision, strategy and impact to more Pennsylvanians because of the access to an expanded set of tools, expertise and capital that joining Risant Health provides.”
When Risant turns its attention to acquiring the next system to add to its network, it’s likely to follow a similar blueprint that led it to Geisinger.
After the announcement of the planned affiliation last year, Ryu told HealthLeaders: “Through Risant Health, Kaiser Permanente has shared its desire to seek out like-minded entities that are committed to quality care and improving access and affordability by promoting value-based care models in different geographic areas.”
Risant has made clear that it can benefit potential partners by providing them with “initial platform solutions” that will deliver evidence-based care, as well as by helping systems and their patients “know how to easily understand, access and navigate to the right care at the right time and place.”
The influx of resources that Risant can inject into a system makes joining its network an appealing proposition for organizations that are dealing with financial uncertainty.
Risant isn’t the only effort by nonprofit operators to shake up the healthcare landscape. Months after Kaiser made its intentions known, venture capital firm General Catalyst announced its plan to purchase a health system to test new technology in pursuit of value-based care. That system became Ohio-based Summa Health earlier this year.
Jay Asser is the contributing editor for strategy at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Kaiser Permanente’s Risant Health completed its deal for Geisinger Health to create its value-based care platform, with federal and state agencies approving the acquisition.
Risant said it will target four to five other health systems in the next half-decade to join its network, likely looking for similar characteristics to those in Geisinger.
Potential partnering systems could be drawn to Risant’s access of capital and technology to bolster their own operations while shaping the future of value-based care.