Bivarus, a startup focusing on patient experience anayltics that raised $2 million in March, has acquired The Jackson Group, a Hickory-based firm that provides healthcare measurement and consulting.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal provides Bivarus with Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (or CAHPS) capabilities.

According to Bivarus, Jackson Group is one of 37 vendors in the U.S. approved by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to offer CAHPS services. Bivarus noted that CAHPS is a “mandatory survey program for an ever-increasing number of healthcare organizations.”

Through the deal, Bivarus now has more than 175 customers, providing what it calls “comprehensive, cost-effective, technology-enabled solutions to capture and deliver actionable data and insights.”

“It was crucial for us to find a partner with established expertise, a reputation for quality and differentiated service offerings in the healthcare field,” said Bivarus CEO David Levin in a statement about the deal. “The Jackson Group is the perfect partner, and not only do our teams complement each other operationally, we are aligned culturally. You can feel the energy among all staff to build, refine and deliver real solutions to our customers.”

The Jackson Group launched in 1976.

“Bivarus has created an entirely new approach for delivering the insights our healthcare customers need to inform and improve day-to-day practices and long-term strategies,” said Tony Jackson, the founder of Jackson Group. “The relationships with customers that my family’s team has built over 40 years will benefit immensely from access to the measurement technology that Bivarus has built. It is an incredible opportunity for our combined company to have a continuous impact in healthcare delivery.”

Alan Jackson, the CEO of Jackson Group, will join Bivarus as chief customer officer.

Tony Jackson will be a strategic advisor.

“All other team members will continue in their current roles with the same organizational reporting structure,” Bivarus added.

Bivarus now has 54 employees and will maintain its headquarters in Durham plus an office in Hickory.