6/5/2015
PITTSBURGH, June 5, 2015 – Evolent Health Inc., co-founded less than five years ago by UPMC and The Advisory Board Company, went public today on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion.
The successful initial public offering underscores UPMC’s strategy of commercializing its clinical, technological and managerial expertise to improve health care while earning funds to support the world-renowned health system and creating new jobs in the communities it serves.
Evolent helps physicians and hospitals create population health programs and their own insurance operations in a rapidly changing health care landscape. This approach is based on a model developed by UPMC’s integrated delivery and finance system (IDFS) in which the incentives of the provider and the insurance arm are aligned around the needs of the patient.
“Transforming the way health care is delivered to improve clinical costs and outcomes is Evolent’s core mission,” said Diane Holder, executive vice president, UPMC, and president and chief executive officer of UPMC Health Plan.
Evolent began trading today under the symbol "EVH" on the New York Stock Exchange with the company selling 11.5 million shares.
Formed as an independent company in 2011, Evolent is backed by capital, asset and intellectual property contributions from UPMC Health Plan and The Advisory Board, a global health care research, consulting and technology firm.
Health care reform and the broader movement toward value-based care have created a need for health systems to develop new competencies that traditionally were not part of their business model. Evolent’s business proposition is based on the UPMC IDFS model to dramatically transform the way patient care is delivered in the United States, from a traditional fee-for-service model to one of paying for value, thus reducing costs and improving health outcomes.
“With the methodology developed at UPMC, which includes the technology, clinical programs, knowledge and infrastructure to help health systems make this transition, Evolent will ultimately improve the cost-quality equation,” Ms. Holder said. “This approach is working at UPMC, and the industry envisions this model as the way of the future.”
The federal government – which accounts for more than half of health care spending -- has announced that it is going to move 50 percent of its health care spending to value-based payment by 2018, from 10 percent today.
With an original investment of $38 million, UPMC now owns 22.5 percent of Evolent. Based on the $17 per share IPO price, UPMC’s ownership in Evolent is valued at $250 million. Proceeds of the IPO will go to fund Evolent’s continued growth and success. Based in Arlington, Va., Evolent also supports nearly 150 jobs in Pittsburgh through subcontracts with the UPMC Health Plan.
