Humana acquiring hospice pharmacy Enclara Healthcare

Louisville-based Humana, the nation’s third-largest health insurance provider, is acquiring a large privately held hospice pharmacy and benefit management providers, Enclara Healthcare.

Humana is acquiring the business from Consonance Capital Partners and Enclara management. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Humana is already a major provider of home care and hospice services. The company acquired the in-home care business of Kindred Healthcare and Curo Services, a large hospice chain, in 2018. Both deals were multi-billion-dollar acquisitions.

According to Humana, the Enclara deal enables the health services provider to extend its care continuum strategy with pharmacy-related needs within hospice care, a benefit fully covered by Medicare. Enclara serves more than 450 hospice providers and 970,000 hospice patients daily.

“Enclara represents a logical extension of Humana Pharmacy’s strategy given the company’s unique ability to play a role in advanced illness care and supplement our existing care delivery system,” Scott Greenwell, PharmD, president of Humana Pharmacy Solutions, said in a statement. “We look forward to leveraging and expanding the capabilities of Enclara to further advance our clinical management expertise."

The acquisition will help Humana simplify the mail order pharmacy experience and advance mobile medication management, electronic medical record connectivity and other in-home pharmacy technology.

The acquisition includes Enclara Pharmacia, GuidantRx and Avanti Health Services, and is expected to close in the first half of 2020.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work closely with Humana to carry on Enclara’s mission of serving as an invaluable resource to hospice providers,” Andrew Horowitz, founder and CEO of Enclara Healthcare, said in a statement. “This combination will allow Enclara to accelerate innovation aimed at delivering timely and cost-effective pharmacy solutions.”

Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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