We live in the age of fake news. You can’t go on any social media without being inundated with uninformed opinions and shallow, obvious propaganda. And some of it isn’t quite so obvious and requires a little leg-work and research to determine the veracity of the claims being made. The best case scenario is a retweet that makes you look an idiot in front of your better informed friends, and the worst case is that someone takes action based on your ill-informed retweet—think of Jennifer McCarthy and the fiasco that is the anti-vax movement—all because someone didn’t do their homework.
You can’t reason with hardcore anti-vaxers (or anti-maskers) or anyone who’s really drunk the Qanon or 4chan kool aid, but for those folks on the fence who may not have all the details down—they go to their medical professionals looking for answers—and it’d be beneficial for said professionals to have a solid database (beyond say, PubMed) from which to draw answers they may not know.
Now they do.
CloudMD Software & Services’ (DOC.V) binding term sheet to acquire iMD Health Global includes their all-in-one platform to give health care professionals at every level of care a place to find information required to properly educate their patients. Including trusted, peer-reviewed health care resources.
“The two companies instantly found common ground with our shared vision of providing a holistic, patient-focused approach to health care. Combining both platforms is immediately synergistic across every aspect of both our businesses as it allows us to layer on additional educational resources for our doctors, allied health professionals and patients and for us to cross-sell services to their clients and patients. These resources empower patients to finally participate in their own health and wellness, which studies have repeatedly shown results in better outcomes and in turn lowers health care costs for governments and corporations around the world. The addition of iMD further realizes our strategy of whole-person health care delivery and will be an extremely valuable piece of our global growth plans,” said Dr. Essam Hamza, chief executive officer of CloudMD
The platform
Health care professionals, be they doctor, nurse, pharmacist, et al use iMD’s platform to disseminate factual medical information promoting positive patient behaviour in all health sectors. The platform comes with a digital library and visual component, which can be accessed from any digital device. The platform is populated with content licensing partnerships with Canada’s various health associations and pharmaceutical companies, as well as getting support from partner, Apotex Pharmaceuticals, which is one of the largest pharmacos in Canada, boasting $2 billion in annual sales and an 18% equity stake in iMD.
The platform has a reach extending past 7.5 million patients and is used by over 10,000 health care professionals and other users, the breakdown of which is 3,800 doctors, 2,000 pharmacies, 140 hospitals and 150 specialty clinics. Also, iMD has partnered with over 30 global pharmaceutical companies, 18digital healthcare integration providers, Health Canada and over 60 health care associations in North America. The company’s library has over 80,000 images, brochures and videos touching on 2,100 health conditions.
By blending their platform into Juno, CloudMD’s electronic medical records software, iMD produces an EMR software that’s really one of the only solutions that offers health care professionals direct access to additional resources from one platform. That’s a not insignificant competitive advantage over anyone else presently operating in this market.
The platform represents a great return on investment for folks in the healthcare industry because it increases efficiency and patient engagement while reducing costs in both time and money.
The acquisition
The acquisition makes sense for both companies, because both iMD and CloudMD have basically the same mission—providing holistic, patient-centred health care. The introduction of iMD’s platform will give CloudMD the ability to provide its entire 3,000 strong network of health care practitioners, specialists, and almost three million patients, with resources required to educate themselves and others on healthcare issues, treatments and preventative solutions.
So if you’re already a patient and you’ve got a nagging health issue, instead of going to WebMD and convincing yourself you’ve got six different types of cancer, you can go to CloudMD and get some proper education, apply Ochams Razor, and go into your doctor’s office properly armed with facts and figures.
Kevin Delano, the CEO and founder of iMD, intends the growth trajectory of his company to span Canada, North America, Mexico and the Middle East. Getting access to CloudMD’s resources and capital will help with the expansion and continue developing the business.
“There is a significant disconnect between what a patient is told and what he or she remembers. We have developed the very best cloud-based patient engagement software on the market. With CloudMD’s infrastructure, including its EMR, network of clinics and pharmacies, and allied health, specialist and mental health solutions, we can accelerate our growth and help more patients. iMD’s platform empowers patients to take control of their health and wellness and provides trusted health resources when and where they need it. We are excited to join CloudMD and look forward to working with them moving forward,” according to Delano.
The acquisition will immediately add to CloudMD’s coffers, as iMD has high-margin revenue streams from SaaS (software as a service) and sponsorship services. The company expects to bring in a annualized revenue of $1.2 million EBITDA margins over 5%. They’ve also continued to grow their team and invest in their intellectual property, and have been operating at near break-even in order to finance their growth strategy.
As the chart indicates, the company has been doing well with investors and continues to make headway. If you bought in mid-July, then congratulations on your near four bagger.
—Joseph Morton
