What you should know
- The deal: Port healtha provider of integrated care and coverage (a “payer”), has acquired undulationa platform specialized in dementia care.
- The strategy: The move integrates Rippl’s expertise in dementia into Harbor’s “condition-focused care pathways.” By combining primary care with specialized dementia management, the goal is to prevent the behavioral crises that often send older people to the emergency room.
- The scale: The acquisition follows Harbor’s 2025 purchase of 32 VillageMD clinics. The combined entity will deploy these services throughout Texas (Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso) and will expand into the Florida market.
The “path-condition” thesis
Dementia is one of the most expensive conditions in healthcare, not because of the medications used to treat it, but because of where patients end up: the emergency room. When an older person with dementia becomes agitated or confused, families often have nowhere to turn but 911.
Harbor Health’s model is based on the idea that generic primary care is not enough for complex patients. They build specific “pathways” for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and pain.
By adding Rippl, they are filling a huge gap in that lineup.
- The logic: If you are both the insurer (who pays the bills) and the provider (who provides the care), you will be financially motivated to avoid costly hospitalizations.
- The execution: Rippl’s platform identifies medical and behavioral problems early. Instead of a $20,000 hospital stay for a urinary tract infection that caused delirium, the patient receives proactive treatment at home.
“We created Rippl to keep seniors with dementia… out of the emergency department and out of the hospital,” said Kris Engskov, co-founder and CEO of Rippl. “We have always understood that specialty dementia care works best when it is deeply integrated with primary care.”
Expanding VillageMD Footprint
This acquisition does not occur in a vacuum. It follows Harbor’s significant acquisition in 2025 of 32 VillageMD clinics in Texas. Harbor now has the physical footprint (the clinics) to anchor Rippl’s virtual and specialized capabilities. The combined service will be available in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso, effectively covering major Texas metropolitan areas before expanding to Florida.
