Dallas-based specialty healthcare network Employer Direct Healthcare announced a $92 million secondary investment from global software investor Insight Partners, bringing the company’s valuation to $1 billion.

Employer Direct said that its existing institutional investors—Serent Capital, Redmile Group and Dundon Capital—will maintain their ownership interest in the business.

Employer Direct Healthcare CEO John Zutter said that for too many Americans—even those with insurance—”the financial and logistical burdens of a cancer diagnosis or need for surgery can be earth shattering.” 

“Every day, EDH is serving people at their most vulnerable—guiding members to high-quality providers that are close to home, at little or no cost to them,” Zutter added in a statement. “We’re grateful for Insight Partners’ significant vote of confidence as we continue to deliver excellent, affordable, and accessible specialty care for more communities.”

“Further, this investment provides an attractive outcome for some of our earliest backers, including TEXO Ventures, while bringing Insight’s world-class capabilities to bear for the future of the business,” Zutter said.

EDH is headquartered at 2100 Ross Avenue in the Downtown Dallas Arts District. The company said it has “quietly grown” to become one of the largest participants in the specialty networks, centers of excellence, and bundled payments categories for employers who self-fund healthcare coverage for their employees.

Lowering surgical costs for thousands of employees

Employer Direct Healthcare serves hundreds of self-funded plan sponsors across more than 1,000 employers—including around two dozen Fortune 500 employers and three dozen public sector entities—representing more than 4 million people nationwide.

The EDH network includes more than 3,000 surgeons and oncologists and more than 500 facility partners, spanning 157 metropolitan regions across the country.

Over the past 12 years, EDH says it has facilitated more than 43,000 “surgical journeys,” significantly reducing members’ financial burdens by an average of $4,000.

In doing so, EDH said it has lowered overall healthcare costs for employer clients by a total of roughly $700 million since inception and will reduce overall healthcare costs for clients by approximately 2% in 2023.

“EDH represents the next generation of value-driven healthcare, attacking the largest sources of spend for U.S. employers—surgery and cancer—with a laser focus on quality and cost for clients and their employees,” Scott Barclay, managing director at Insight Partners, said in a statement. “EDH is a rare example of the right management team, the right model, and the right technology to truly change the outcomes and business of healthcare.”

AutoZone is among companies that have benefited from partnering with EDH

Companies that have partnered with EDH say they have experienced positive outcomes.

“Partnering with EDH has yielded very positive outcomes for our AutoZoners and they often share with us their wonderful experiences with SurgeryPlus,” Matt Harmon, VP of Compensation, Benefits and HRIS, Customer Satisfaction at AutoZone, said in a statement. “EDH helps to ensure that we’re able to provide access to high-quality, affordable surgical care for our AutoZoners across the U.S.”

Continued growth and expansion of cancer treatment options—and new key hires

In the year ahead, EDH said it will continue to build on market momentum and strong overall growth, including expansion of Cancer Care Direct, the industry’s first end-to-end oncology solution, and several key partnerships with national health plans, navigators, and other industry-leading employer solutions.

EDH also announced key executive hires who, it said, bring deep, differentiated experience across healthcare, benefits consulting, technology, and government.

The hires include Chief Growth Officer Jamie McLeod, who previously held senior roles at One Medical and Virgin Pulse; Chief Product Officer Jeremy Leventhal, who previously held senior product roles at Hinge Health and Springbuk; Chief Client Officer Lindsey Conon, previously SVP of Account Management at Progyny; and Chief Marketing Officer Shelly Towns, previously CMO at Marathon Health.

Other key recent hires include Head of Communications Amy Dudley, who served in top communications roles for then-Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Nicki MacManus, GM of EDH’s oncology solution, who previously had executive leadership roles at CVS including GM of CVS Kidney Care; and Head of Channel Tim Kelly, who was previously Chief Commercial Officer at Carrot Fertility and President of National Accounts at Aetna, a CVS Company.

The company said that other recent hires include senior leaders from KindBody, WTW and WithMe Health.

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that it said are driving transformative change in their industries.

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