Why HealthStream Is Buying NurseGrid For $25 Million

By Annie Baker • Mar 13, 2020
  • HealthStream, a provider of workforce and provider solutions for the healthcare industry, announced recently it is acquiring NurseGrid. These are the details.

HealthStream, a provider of workforce and provider solutions for the healthcare industry, announced recently that it acquired NurseGrid. NurseGrid is a Portland, Oregon-based company known for developing the #1 rated and downloaded app for nurses and corollary applications for nurse managers called NurseGrid Enterprise.

And HealthStream originally made an investment in NurseGrid in February 2019. And the continued growth of nurses using NurseGrid Mobile, the development and release of NurseGrid Enterprise, and the opportunity to further engage and support such a large and growing audience of nurses across the HealthStream ecosystem contributed to the company’s decision to acquire NurseGrid.

There are about 3.1 million registered nurses in the U.S. and nurses make up the largest audience across the HealthStream ecosystem. And NurseGrid Mobile has an audience of more than 260,000 nurses as monthly active users, which continues to grow virally.

Of NurseGrid Mobile’s total user base, 40% open the app every day. NurseGrid Mobile launched in 2015, is free to nurses and it is available in the Apple and Android app stores.

Nurses utilize NurseGrid Mobile to manage and share their schedules, swap shifts, communicate with each other, and to coordinate work and non-work activities. And the NurseGrid Enterprise application helps healthcare managers efficiently publish work schedules to their nursing staff, view and approve shift swaps, and communicate with their teams.

HealthStream paid for the entirety of the outstanding equity of HcT2 Co., a Delaware corporation (d/b/a NurseGrid), including the approximately 10% of equity interest in NurseGrid that HealthStream held since January 31, 2019. This amounts to approximately $25 million in cash subject to post-closing working capital adjustment.

Key Quotes:

“NurseGrid has an incredibly active and engaged community of nurses who have made our app part of their routine. Much of NurseGrid’s growth, to date, has been word of mouth. Now, with HealthStream, we can expand the reach of NurseGrid Mobile and NurseGrid Enterprise by tapping into the HealthStream network.”

-Rob MacNaughton, Chief Executive Officer at NurseGrid

“When we launched NurseGrid, one of the first companies I reached out to about collaborating was HealthStream, as they share similar values and commitment to nurses. HealthStream has a been a great supporter of NurseGrid; they are the perfect fit to take NurseGrid and our community of nurse users to the next level.”

-Joe Novello, BSN, RN, founder of NurseGrid

“With NurseGrid, we see a tremendous opportunity to further cultivate relationships with nurses and deepen engagement with this important audience across our ecosystem. We value the community of nurses using NurseGrid and believe that, together, HealthStream and NurseGrid can bring more value to nurses and the healthcare organizations they work for. We are excited to welcome NurseGrid and its employees to HealthStream.”

-Robert A. Frist, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, HealthStream