Social determinants of health-focused Unite Us announced plans Tuesday to acquire health analytics firm Carrot Health for an undisclosed sum.

Unite Us’ care-coordination platform allows healthcare and social service providers to communicate and refer patients while tracking those patients’ journeys and outcomes. Unite Us said Carrot’s large dataset will help partner organizations address healthcare inequities and create new care models.

“With our networks that truly track outcomes and address social factors, we will immediately enable our combined partner base of community-based organizations, governments, payers and providers to accelerate their impact together, leveraging advanced analytics that improve health for their populations and communities,” said Dan Brillman, cofounder and CEO of Unite Us, in a statement.

WHY IT MATTERS

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the connections between the health of a population and access to food, housing, employment and education, among other social factors. 

The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, designed to quickly disseminate data on how Americans were affected by the pandemic, showed more than half of adults reported difficulty paying for usual household expenses in the past seven days, while 19% reported delaying medical care in the last four weeks, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis on data from April 28 to May 10.

Meanwhile, community and social services have had to manage a heavy burden during the pandemic, as Americans lost jobs and were isolated at home.

"What COVID-19 put a big magnifying glass on is our lack of public health infrastructure," Taylor Justice, cofounder and president of Unite Us, said during a HIMSS20 Digital session last year.

"I think cities and states, once they started to transition away from just a pure clinical response, started to realize, with the increased unemployment numbers, there's this unprecedented stress about to hit their human and social service systems."

THE LARGER TREND

In March, Unite Us said it closed a $150 million Series C funding round, about two years after its $35 million Series B round.

In 2020, the company announced its plans to acquire another health analytics company, Staple Health. Unite Us was also integrated into CVS’ Guardian Angel program, which is specifically focused on helping people access care and support services after an opioid-related overdose.

Other healthcare tech companies are expanding their abilities to manage social determinants of health too. Earlier this month, software and services company WellSky said it will acquire Healthify, a platform that helps its users search for social services and coordinate care. 

Late last year, Cityblock Health, a platform that aims to address health disparities and provide cost-effective healthcare and social services, announced a $160 Series C round. Also, NowPow partnered with the Chicago Department of Public Health to improve its COVID-19 contact tracing, as well as support its maternal-child health, HIV and mental health programs.