Yahoo Finance Cigna's (CI) Evernorth Acquires Bright.md Technology Platform
The Cigna Group’s CI Evernorth Health Services recently announced its acquisition of Bright.md, adding to MDLIVE’s virtual care capabilities. The acquiree is a leader in asynchronous care, healthcare navigation services and triage. It is a suitable pick for Evernorth to enhance MDLIVE, its virtual care platform, with Bright.md’s technological and clinical capabilities.
This move bodes well for Evernorth as it would improve health outcomes and the experience of patients by improving patient access to quality care, saving clinicians time and reducing the cost of providing care. An improvement in patient health outcomes and meaningful interactions between patients and providers would enhance Evernorth’s core value proposition by enhancing its offerings. Evernorth is also enhancing its MDLIVE platform by adding health coaching for patients suffering from chronic conditions. The company expects the Evernorth Health Services segment to report adjusted operating income on a pretax basis of a minimum of $6.4 billion in 2023.
The company aims to provide care efficiently while reducing the cost of care. Hence, with this acquisition, it will be able to provide asynchronous care within MDLIVE through which patients can get access to care without the need for physical interaction. This service will be available for patients in 2024 and is expected to extend its benefits to support chronic disease management in the future.
Such investments by the company highlight its unwavering focus on addressing health issues holistically and diversifying the avenues through which patients get access to care. A clinical digital interview will be taken and converted into a holistic chart and the clinician can go through the responses and provide diagnosis, prescriptions and care plans accordingly.
Evernorth is also introducing health coaching as part of a patient care plan developed by a primary care physician. This move will support patients with chronic conditions and help providers manage lifestyle changes of patients, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
Shares of Cigna have gained 11.9% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 1.9% growth. CI currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the medical space are Select Medical Holdings Corporation SEM, HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA and Atai Life Sciences N.V. ATAI. While Select Medical sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), HCA Healthcare and Atai Life Sciences carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Select Medical’s 2023 earnings indicates a 56.9% year-over-year increase to $1.93 per share. It has witnessed one upward estimate revision in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. The consensus mark for SEM’s 2023 revenues indicates 4.2% growth from a year ago.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HCA Healthcare’s 2023 bottom line suggests a 9.4% increase from the prior-year levels. HCA has witnessed one upward estimate revision in the past week against none in the opposite direction. It beat earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed once, with the average surprise being 5.4%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Atai Life Sciences’ current-year earnings implies a 16.3% improvement from the year-ago reported figure. It has witnessed four upward estimate revisions in the past 60 days against no movement in the opposite direction. ATAI beat earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters, met once and missed on one occasion.
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atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
