On the road to creating a healthier population, Welltok buys computer learning firm

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Denver-based Welltok announced today it had acquired Massachusetts-based Predilytics, a healthcare predictive analytics company, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition allows Welltok to add more consumer intelligence and analytical abilities into its healthcare platform.

Welltok’s healthcare programs encourage users to be healthier (and thus cheaper to insure) through its CafeWell Health Optimization Platform. The platform allows users to pick from a variety of programs that then reward participants for their healthy behaviors. For example, you may receive a cash reward or gift certificate for completing a certain type of screening.

“For too long, healthcare analytics has been focused on what the patient is doing, rather than the consumer. The data is largely clinical, retroactive and inadequate to understand the needs of consumers,” Jeff Margolis, chairman and chief executive officer for Welltok, said in a statement. “This is why Predilytics is so incredibly important – it strives to understand consumers and gain unparalleled insights on behavior and preferences before they engage with the healthcare system.”

Predilytics’ software utilizes computer learning to segment consumers based on their health risks, how receptive they might be to a program, and how much impact that program might have. That information is incredibly useful for people with job titles like ‘Population Health Manager,’ who can make decisions based on solid data. It could identify a segment of population, for example, that would be most likely to benefit from a program that encouraged users to be screened for a particular disease.

Predilytics was one of the first companies to commercially apply computer learning to consumer healthcare analytics. So far, the company’s software has analyzed the health data of 250 million people, trying to sort out those who need help, those who want help and how they can be helped.

Welltok has raised over $90 million in funding, while Predilytics had raised over $20 million. 

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