StayWell adds VR-enabled meditation to its employer wellness services

Merck subsidiary StayWell‘s acquisition of Portland, Oregon-based Provata Health is the company’s latest purchase and reflects the steady drumbeat of consolidation in the employer wellness sector as companies acquire more services to add to their offerings. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Provata gives StayWell a program that lets employees virtually transport themselves to a tranquil beach, underwater coral reefs, or a mountainside in meditation exercises intended to relieve stress. The VR-enabled meditation product also provides a way for users to sync wearable devices to visualize the effects of their meditation sessions on their heart rate.

In addition to VR, the deal also gives StayWell tools for coaching, risk assessment and ways to measure participant engagement. The deal follows acquisitions by the business in 2017 of health and wellness app developer MedHelp and patient engagement business ShareWIK in 2016.

Although a steady stream of negative headlines suggest despite employers’ optimism employees don’t much care for workplace wellness programs, as a recent Willis Towers Watson survey showed, that doesn’t seem to have dampened acquisitions in this area.

Last month, French insurance giant AXA Group acquired employee benefits healthcare benefits manager Maestro Health to gain a foothold in the U.S. healthcare market. In 2017, Castlight Health acquired Jiff to make it easier for employees to navigate benefits and health apps. Welltok has also made acquisitions to add analytics tools to better assess engagement such as Predilytics and Mindbloom.