Seniorlink Receives $7.5M from NewSpring

The health care funding company, NewSpring Health Capital, from the family of private equity funds, NewSpring Capital, has invested $7.5 million in Seniorlink, Inc., a creator in solutions for caregivers across the country.

Seniorlink, founded in 2000, plans to use the funds to continue developing its coaching and collaboration platform, Vela. Vela is a technology platform that will allow caregivers to collaborate with care teams and health care professionals while navigating a broad network of resources and information.

“We are extremely excited to partner with NewSpring Capital,” Tom Riley, CEO of Seniorlink, said in a press release. “We remain committed to the caregiver, the most important member of the care team, and look forward to furthering the innovation necessary to provide these family members with consistent support and resources.”

With this investment, NewSpring has made more than $1 billion in investments in more than 120 portfolios since 1999.

“Seniorlink’s transformative service model and technology will link managed care providers and unpaid family caregivers to further deputize family members in the care of individuals with complex diseases,” Brian G. Murphy, general partner and Seniorlink board member, said in a press release. “This model is deeply aligned with our investment thesis of using technology to provide efficient solutions that help drive down health care costs and offer an alternative to the traditional delivery of health care. We look forward to working with this experienced management team.”

BrightStar Care Opens New Office

BrightStar Care, one of the nation’s largest home care franchise companies, has announced the opening of a new office in Salt Lake City to help accommodate its growing office staff. The new office is twice as big as the previous location in the area.

“The office provides larger and state-of-the-art training rooms to better prepare our staff to provide quality care for our clients,” Tamara Brown, owner of BrightStar Care Salt Lake City, said in a press release.

The home care agency is also offering a new employee program at the location called Career Ladders, which includes career advancement, leadership and scholarship opportunities for its staff.

“Career Ladders is a first-of-its-kind program in the home care industry where we lay out a defined path for our staff to progress in their careers, take on more responsibilities and increase their compensations,” Deborah Parker, director of nursing at BrightStar Salt Lake City, said in a press release. “BrightStar prides itself on having the best qualified and most compassionate care professionals in the industry.”

Doctors on Call to Use Cureatr to Reduce New York Hospital Visits

A provider of in-home medical services throughout downstate New York, Doctors on Call, is teaming up with Cureatr, a technology company formed by physicians to help health care providers improve care coordination through mobile alerts to health care providers.

The partnership, announced by Doctors on Call, will include the activation of Cureatr’s network of care transition notifications (CTN) and care coordination platform. Doctors on Call physicians will now be notified immediately when patients have a care event such as an emergency department visit or discharge from a hospital.

“Most patients don’t realize that when they go to the emergency room, their doctors or care teams may be the last to find out—if at all,” Dr. Paul Rosenstock, CEO and medical director of Doctors on Call, said in a press release. “With Cureatr, Doctors on Call physicians know exactly when their patients enter, or leave, the hospital, in real time. We’re excited to be using Cureatr and look forward to seeing how our strengthened communication will lower readmission and admission rates, and ultimately improve the wellbeing of our patients.”

Always Best Care Announces New Owners of Indiana Territory

In-home care and assisted living franchise Always Best Care Senior Services has announced new owners of its Terre Haute, Indiana, territory.

“We are very pleased to welcome David and Natalia Beach to the Always Best Care Family,” Jake Brown, president of Always Best Care, said in a press release. “David and Natalia have strong professional backgrounds that will translate well into their new business. In addition, both owners have personal experience with caring for family members with Alzheimer’s and understand the importance of hiring and retaining quality caregivers. As a result of their deep passion or helping seniors in their community, we have no doubt they will serve as exemplary ambassadors for Always Best Care.”

Natalia founded Chips Deli Restaurants in Kazan, Russia, ran a successful company there for 18 years before moving to the U.S. David has more than 40 years of teaching experience as a college professor for various universities in Indiana and Iowa.

“Always Best Care is a leader in senior care, and Natalia and I are proud to offer its award-winning services to local families in need,” David Beach said in a press release. “Together, we share years of personal experience caring for family members and are thrilled to bring this business to our area. We look forward to helping the seniors in our community for many years to come.”

Fazzi Teams Up With Home Health Gold

Fazzi Associates, a consultant and educational organization in the home care and hospice industry, has announced a recent partnership with Home Health Gold, a technology company that helps agencies organize and store data.

The partnership has formed to offer a new solution called Fazzi VISION. The solution couples Fazzi’s clinical and OASIS expertise and HHCAHPS service with Home Health Gold, an OASIS scrubbing and analytics tool.

“This partnership is founded on the premise that sophisticated OASIS data analysis and reporting combined with personal consultation from Fazzi’s home health experts provides incredible value to agencies,” Dr. Robert Fazzi, founder and managing partner of Fazzi Associates, said in a press release. “We believe this is the only solution of its kind available in the market. We’re very please to be working with the ‘gold standard’ of OASIS analytics and reporting that is Home Health Gold.”

CareCentrix Launches HomeBridge

The home health coordination company, CareCentrix has launched its newest cloud-based platform that helps patients heal and age in their homes. HomeBridge is built on Salesforce Health Cloud and connects patients to the providers and care they require.

The system also allows CareCentrix to connect patients and care teams to facilitate continuity of care as patients heal at home. With the real-time system, each patient’s care team will be able to see a daily record of information, like blood pressure and heart rate, and be able to intervene, if possible.

“Patients deserve better care and coordination. Too often health care providers play their position, but do not have the tools to work as a team to help patients transition home,” John Driscoll, CEO of CareCentrix, said in press release. “With our HomeBridge platform, we align patients with the right providers and support those providers to work as team to guide the path home and then continue to provide patients with the support they need.”

CareAcademy and CareLinx Partner for Online Training for Caregivers 

CareAcademy, a provider of online classes and certification for private duty caregivers, has partnered with CareLinx, which provides an online platform for families to find and hire caregivers who match their specific needs and budget. The partnership will provide professional courses and certification for 150,000 caregivers on the CareLinx platform.

The courses are designed by health care professionals, including graduates from Harvard Education School and Harvard Medical School. The partnership aims to ensure that families coming to CareLinx will have access to a pool of highly qualified caregivers.

Caregivers can access a number of courses on topics including interviewing skills, preventing falls and maintaining a safe and healthy home environment. Once caregivers have completed a course, CareLinx will add the new credentials to their profile online so families can review them to make a more informed decision about choosing a caregiver for their loved ones.

Written by Alana Stramowski