Everyday Health is stepping into the professional side of the portal wars with its purchase of MedPage Today.
The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, marries Everyday Health’s 27 million-strong monthly consumer audience to MedPage Today’s 700,000 healthcare professionals and gives the health portal a platform from which to take on WebMD’s MedScape, which boasts an audience of 2.5 million healthcare professionals.
“For a year now, we’ve had our eyes focused on entering the professional marketplace,” said Everyday Health CEO and cofounder Benjamin Wolin. “We knew we wanted to do it through an acquisition. So we went out and pursued a company we thought really fit well with our company. It’s all about daily communication and quality content, and it’s a really loyal audience. About a quarter of MedPage Today users come back multiple times a week, said Wolin, who also pointed to the firm’s CME program, accredited in real time through the University of Pennsylvania, along with its conference coverage and relationship with ABC News.
“Out of the gate, we’ll be able to reach about a third of all prescribers, and this is not the only deal we’re going to do,” said Wolin.
Everyday Health has cobbled together a patchwork consumer health online empire through a combination of sites such as its flagship that were developed internally, acquisitions like Revolution Health and through partnerships with sites like WhatToExpect.com and Physician’s Desk Reference, whose consumer site is run by the firm.
For advertisers, the deal offers opportunities to reach consumer and professional audiences simultaneously.
“The content will get integrated across our network, so you’ll start to see MedPage Today stories pop up on Everyday Health right out the gate,” said Wolin.
“I think we’ve done an amazing job on the consumer side helping marketers communicate to consumers, and we’re going to do the same on the professional side.”
Little Falls, NJ-based MedPage Today will remain intact, said Wolin, including its leadership. The firm adds around 30 employees, bringing Everyday Health’s total headcount to around 400.
MedPage Today also brings two mobile device apps to Everyday Health’s stable of 15, along with popular physician blogger Kevin Pho, MD, better known as KevinMD, and MedPage Today editor at large George Lundberg, MD, a former top editor at JAMA and MedScape.
Wolin said MedPage’s audience has increased almost 70% this year, “so we’re really catching a business that’s on the rise.”