CloudMD Software & Services (DOC.V) expands their mental health repertoire with Mindbeacon

CloudMD Software & Services (DOC.V) closed its acquisition of digital health care provider, Mindbeacon Holdings, today.

Mindbeacon offers a digital mental health platform and a network of over 500 licensed therapists and clinical psychologists. The notion is a full continuum of care centered around giving users the ability to choose how, when and where they get support.

“The acquisition is expected to accelerate our U.S. expansion strategy, a key focus for us in 2022, and improve organic growth by opening new distribution channels and through cross-selling to our 5,500 corporate clients. In addition, we have identified significant cost savings and are excited to integrate Mindbeacon’s team and operations to realize further synergies between the businesses. Finally, I’d like to thank our shareholders and key stakeholders who have supported CloudMD’s vision and journey,” said Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO of CloudMD.

Over the years, CloudMD has put together an impressive string of acquisitions, building and expanding their telemedicine app from simple doctor visits to include the normally silo’d off world of mental health. It made sense when they started in round 1 of the pandemic, back when we had no idea how the virus worked and before the arguments about vaccines started, and it still makes sense now that there’s a violent upswing in mental health due to nearly three years of isolation.

CloudMD presently services an ecosystem of more than 7,000 psychiatrists, approximately 4,500 therapists, counsellors, and 4,000 psychologists, over 22,000 family physicians, over 34,000 medical specialists, over 1,500 allied health professionals, over 500 clinics and over five million individuals across North America.

What Mindbeacon brings to the table is the digital delivery of evidence-based therapy through a computer, phone or tablet. They’ve treated 50,000 people using therapist-assisted internet based cognitive behavioural therapy, and helped folks get help five times faster than traditional community health care. CloudMD has something similar to that—acquired over the course of the past few years—but they don’t boast Mindbeacon’s outcomes, the numbers for which show 82% of clients reporting improvement in mental health, and 67% showing clinically significant improvement.

“As the need for accessible mental health support continues to grow, it is imperative that the sector innovates to increase accessibility, improve results and reduce costs. The progression of our integrated health services platform, our partnership with employers, advisers and insurers, and the acquisition of Mindbeacon, demonstrates our dedication to being a leader in innovating the mental health space,” said Karen Adams, president of CloudMD.

The addition of Mindbeacon to CloudMD’s holistic offering positions the company as a leader within the fast-growing global behavioural health care market, which is expected to grow to $242-billion by 2027 (U.S.), with a compounded annual growth rate of 5.02 per cent between 2020 and 2027. The acquisition is expected to be synergistic by offering the following benefits:

Combined, the digital health platform is expected to be one of North America’s leading fully integrated health offerings, with a clinically validated, broad continuum of care to address mild, moderate, acute and chronic mental and physical care;

Integration into CloudMD’s comprehensive integrated health services platform will expand the breadth of interactive technologies and tool sets within behavioural health to support clients with longitudinal multidimensional care;

Data interoperability and increased analytic touch points will provide additional valuable data around health care outcomes and improve network effects;

Significant cross-selling opportunities through a combined network of 5,500 corporate clients, over five million lives and extensive government contracts;

Drive United States expansion through additional capabilities, modalities, cross-selling opportunities and Mindbeacon’s recent acquisition of a U.S.-based mental health provider;

Mindbeacon’s Beacon in a Box white-label iCBT software-as-a-service-offering complements CloudMD’s digital health solutions division and may be sold directly to its network of over 20,000 regulated health care professionals;

Overall cost synergies, including Mindbeacon, now exceed $4-million.

The companies have already started the integration of Mindbeacon’s healthcare solutions into CloudMD’s continuum of care. Management expects the acquisition to begin to generate significant synergies beginning in Q1 of this year.

—Joseph Morton