MedOptions to Acquire Vericare, Creating a National Provider of Behavioral Health Services to Long-Term Care Facilities

OLD LYME, Conn. and SAN DIEGO, May 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MedOptions, the nation's largest outsourced provider of behavioral health services to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire San Diego-based Vericare, the second largest behavioral health clinical care provider in the United States. The combined business will be the sole national provider of outsourced behavioral health services to long-term care facilities and will serve more than 180,000 beds across more than 1,500 facilities.  

MedOptions and Vericare each provide a similar integrated behavioral care model to deliver services to a primarily geriatric population. Services are provided through an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, including a Psychiatrist (MD), Clinical Psychologist (PhD), specialized nurse practitioners (APRN) and clinical social workers (LCSW).  These clinicians create the backbone for delivering care to patients with a range of mental health needs, including many who have cognitive or memory impairment. MedOptions has also pioneered the use of clinical care maps that focus on reducing the use of antipsychotic medications often overused in the elderly population in the long-term care market. This integrated approach to mental health care leads to a reduction in hospital re-admissions and increases the ability of long-term care facilities to enable patients to return to home settings.  

"We are fortunate to partner with the superb clinical teams at Vericare to create the preeminent national platform for the delivery of behavioral healthcare to patients in our partner facilities," said Ed Mercadante R.Ph, CEO of MedOptions.  "The United States is facing an incredible need for behavioral health specialists to treat the overwhelming increase in our senior population. The combined company will be the country's largest employer of mental health clinicians in this market, offering our customers greater access to care, while providing us with the scale to attract and train the best practitioners."

Cindy Watson, CEO of Vericare, added,"We are very excited about this new partnership with MedOptions. Our combined organization will create a national footprint of exceptional clinicians providing great care to the long-term care facilities we serve."

The transaction is scheduled to be completed in late May of 2016. 

About Vericare

Vericare (www.vericare.com) is a leading provider of geropsychology and geropsychiatry behavioral health services in skilled nursing facilities. Vericare employs more than 400 licensed behavioral healthcare professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers and advanced practice nurses. Vericare's clinicians serve patients in more than 600 facilities in eight states across the United States, including California, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, Indiana, Delaware and Tennessee. HLM Venture Partners is the lead investor in Vericare and will become an investor in MedOptions as a result of the transaction.

About MedOptions

MedOptions (http://www.medoptionsinc.com) partners with skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to provide behavioral health services through the use of memory care evaluations, medication management and behavioral interventions. With multidisciplinary teams comprised of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurse practitioners and licensed clinical social workers, MedOptions clinicians are experienced in dementia and Alzheimer's care, long-term behavioral healthcare in elderly populations and memory care services. MedOptions recently launched MedOptions Connect™, a telemedicine solution which now facilitates greater access to mental health care for patients and residents located in rural areas throughout the United States. MedOptions provides services in more than 900 facilities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware and the District of Columbia.  MedOptions is backed by an investor group led by Summit Partners and Point Judith Capital.

Contact: Heather Laude, Communications Director MedOptions

Telephone: (800) 370 -3651 ext. 1112

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SOURCE MedOptions