CareMetx rolls up another hub services provider, BioSolutia

Just a month after acquiring e-benefits-verification provider VirMedica, CareMetx has made a second acquisition, the hub services provider BioSolutia. Dan Desmarais and Jim Long, principals and co-founders of BioSolutia, will take on leadership roles for CareMetx, joining Mark Hansan, CareMetX president. Hansan and Desmarais had been involved with an earlier iteration of hub services, a company called TheraCom, which was acquired by another company, AdvancePCS, where Long worked. That company was eventually absorbed into Caremark, the pharmacy benefit manager.

“BioSolutia and CareMetx have the same patient-focused culture of excellence” Long said. “The last transaction I had with this team, I was on the acquiring side. Roles are now reversed and I couldn’t be more pleased to be part of reassembling the core management team.” BioSolutia’s Lake Mary, FL, facility will remain open, joining CareMetx facilities in Bethesda, MD and Oakland, CA.

Do CareMetx’ actions represent a consolidation wave among hub-type patient-support providers? That’s hard to say; while the bigger wholesalers and PBMs have made acquisitions over the years, new companies have appeared as well, along with a broadening of the patient-services spectrum beyond call centers and prior-authorization case management. The steady growth of specialty pharmaceuticals—which generally depend on patient support services for commercial success—creates room for all these players.