DENVER’S WELLTOK ACQUIRES GEORGIA’S TEA LEAVES HEALTH

Denver’s Welltok expanded big time into hospitals Wednesday with its purchase of Tea Leaves Health, a Georgia digital-health company that uses data to help hospitals connect with patients and doctors.

The acquisition gives the Denver firm access to Tea Leaves’ more than 400 hospitals, plus customers in 30 percent of the nation’s top health systems, according to Welltok. The company said it paid $83 million for Tea Leaves. By comparison, Ziff Davis paid $30 million when it purchased Tea Leaves in 2015. Ziff Davis is now owned by j2 Global.

Welltok, which built technology and an app to help companies encourage their employees to live healthier lifestyles, said a goal of the purchase is to strategically reach out to consumers after a hospital or other health care visit. Welltok said it has a proprietary database of 275 million consumers that when combined with Tea Leaves’ data will “provide an unparalleled 360-degree view of consumers.”

“As hospital systems seek to add value beyond the provision of acute care services, the acquisition of Tea Leaves Health allows us to offer them a comprehensive outreach and engagement solution that can support all aspects of consumer health,” Welltok chairman and CEO Jeff Margolis said.

Welltok, which has raised at least $163 million in venture capital, adds Tea Leaves’ 63 employees to its fold and now employs about 400 people.