As a combined entity, Virgin Pulse and HealthComp will serve more than 1,000 self-insured employers and more than 20 million members. New Mountain Capital will be the majority owner.

BehaVR offers care for anxiety, mental wellness, pain management and maternal health, while OxfordVR is primarily focused on serious mental illness, such as PTSD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Through the merger, OxfordVR’s products will join BehaVR’s platform, providing services for a whole range of mental health conditions.

The new organization combining InterWell, Fresenius Health Partners and Cricket Health is valued at $2.4 billion with a total addressable market of $170 billion, more than $6 billion of medical costs under management, and over 100,000 covered lives, according to the combined company.

The American Hospital Association and Association of American Medical Colleges have filed an amicus brief in support of the New Jersey health systems that are appealing a court decision to delay their merger following a legal challenge from the FTC.

If the merger is approved, the combined health system will operate 33 hospitals and 385 clinics across six states. The merger also represents the joining together of a faith-based organization, SCL Health, and a secular entity, Intermountain.

The FTC sued to block the merger between the two New Jersey-based health systems and won a preliminary injunction earlier this month. But the providers believe that the merger would not raise prices or stifle competition — like the FTC alleges it would — and have filed an appeal.

CORHIO and Health Current, based in Colorado and Arizona respectively, have formed a new regional organization. Called Contexture, the organization aims to advance interoperability across state lines, while also driving growth and innovation.

With a goal of making precision medicine the standard of care at health systems, Sema4 struck a nearly $800 million deal with CM Life Sciences to go public. The company, which offers tools that combine genomic and clinical data to glean patient care insights, will get $500 million in cash proceeds to grow its business.

Though the number of merger and acquisition deals in the first quarter of 2021 fell below historical averages, the size of the deals was far bigger than the same period last year, a new report from Kaufman Hall shows. The total transacted revenue was $8.8 billion, the second-highest Q1 figure in the last five years.

After going public through a SPAC merger last year, SOC Telemed bought acute telemedicine provider Access Physicians for $194 million. The deal is expected to bolster the company’s specialty consults and telemedicine services for hospitals. 

The Federal Trade Commission is no longer opposing the proposed merger between Einstein Healthcare Network and Jefferson Health. Nearly three years after it was first announced, the deal can now move forward uncontested and will result in an 18-hospital system.

Optum, a subsidiary of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, agreed to buy healthcare technology company Change Healthcare for $13.5 billion in cash. The acquisition will add data analytics, research and revenue cycle management offerings to Optum’s service roster.

After European regulators signed off on the deal, Australian regulators rejected a proposal by Google to assuage concerns about its proposed acquisition of Fitbit. They will continue their investigation of the merger through the end of March.

The South Dakota-based health system has suspended talks related to its planned merger with Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare after the sudden departure of its CEO, Kelby Krabbenhoft. Sanford and its new CEO will instead focus on organizational needs, the system said.

If the merger is approved, the combined health system would operate 70 hospitals and employ 89,000 people. Intermountain CEO Dr. Marc Harrison would lead the new system, estimated to generate about $15 billion in annual revenue.

After Teladoc and Livongo merge, several of the company’s top executives, including CEO Zane Burke and President Dr. Jennifer Schneider, will leave the combined company, according to a recent filing.  

A Delaware judge ruled on Monday that neither Anthem nor Cigna will be able to collect billions in damages over their failed merger.

Regulators with the European Commission said they would launch a full investigation of Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit.  The deal has drawn close scrutiny from regulators who worry about the amount of data Google would be able to access.

OptumHealth acquired naviHealth, a startup developing a software platform to help manage post-acute care.   Cardinal Health sold a majority stake in the company two years ago.

The two health insurance companies signaled that they had met all regulatory requirements for the merger, including review by the Department of Justice. Centene plans to close the acquisition on Thursday.

Teladoc reached an agreement to acquire InTouch Health for $600 million, including $150 million in cash. The deal is expected to add roughly $80 million to Teladoc’s top line.

Boston-based Caresyntax raised $45.6 million and acquired Syus, an analytics provider for hospitals.

The deal will give the Swiss drugmaker control of inclisiran, a drug for which The Medicines Company plans to file for approval in lipid disorders starting this quarter.

The combination would rank among the top 15 largest nonprofit health systems in the country and span 76 hospitals across 26 states and nine countries, employing 83,000 staffers and 2,600 physicians.

The combined company will retain the Datica name and is headquartered in Minneapolis. Sansoro Health CEO Jeremy Pierotti will take on the chief executive role of the new company and former Datica CEO Travis Good will move to the position of chief technology officer.

The drugmaker said Monday it would sell off the drug Otezla to address concerns about competition that the Federal Trade Commission had expressed in connection to the pending $74 billion deal. According to an analyst, BMS saw Otezla as competitive against its investigational TYK2 inhibitor.

The North Carolina organizations aim to enter a final agreement later this year, which would include plans to develop a second Wake Forest School of Medicine campus in Charlotte.

Discussions with experts highlight how factors like culture and regulatory approval can impact merger deals, as well as how hospital mergers impact prices and quality.

The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of this year, would bolster Merck’s therapeutic vaccine capabilities, an analyst wrote.

Last fall, the two Texas healthcare giants signed a letter of intent to form a new health system, which had not yet been named.