WellSky adds scale to HME offering

KANSAS CITY – WellSky’s recent acquisition of Bonafide ends a quiet period for the company in the HME market, as it focused more on building up its presence in the larger post-acute care market and amplifying its predictive analytics capabilities. 

The company announced in late October that it had acquired Bonafide, an enterprise software solution for HME companies that’s been in the market for 40 years, and retained Mark Ludwig, CEO, to continue to lead that team. 

“We have a historical presence serving the HME market, but our capabilities have lacked scale,” said Steve Morgan, president and COO. “HME was not a missing ingredient, but it was not a scaled ingredient. It’s always been on our radar to invest more behind HME and Bonafide gives us the opportunity to be in a stronger position to help that community connect with the rest of health care.” 

WellSky, which has been backed by TPG Capital since 2017 and Leonard Green & Partners since 2020, has made 15 acquisitions since rebranding six years ago, including Corridor and Experience Care, which have a presence in the skilled nursing and long-term care markets, respectively. 

Earlier this year, WellSky also announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to speed up the process of embedding artificial intelligence tools into its solutions.  Out of the gate, WellSky plans to “invest behind” Bonafide in this area, Morgan says. 

“That’s a unique scaled approach we can offer a company like Bonafide post-acquisition that they wouldn’t be able to do on their own,” he said. “Our focus, across the board, is maintaining the subject matter expertise and capabilities that are specific to the workflows of a market. Where we can add additional capabilities is with generative AI or predictive analytics. We plan to pour gas on the fire for Bonafide.” 

Longer term, WellSky’s MO with Bonafide, as it has been with its other acquisitions, is advancing overall interoperability in health care and adding providers to the broader network of referral partners, Morgan says. 

“Our mission is to put a lot more intelligence into care coordination and transition by, in part, connecting providers and patients across the entire continuum of care,” he said.