Business Briefs: PreparedHealth Lands $4 Million in Investments

Investors Drop $4 Million on PreparedHealth 

Some well-known investors have opened their wallets for a Chicago startup focused on social media and big data.

PreparedHealth recently picked up $4 million from Chicago Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Beverly Capital and Meridian Street Capital, reports Crain’s Chicago Business.

PreparedHealth’s signature product is an app called enTouch, which allows care providers to share information the same way they might on another social media platform. The app helped Bayada Home Health Care cut its readmission rates by half when it was tested in a pilot, Crain’s reports.

Bayada is in the process of rolling out PreparedHealth at more than 300 of its U.S. locations. PreparedHealth also works with Centegra Health System in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Honor Partners With American Heart Association 

Staffers at Honor will soon have access to heart disease and stroke research from the American Heart Association (AHA).

Home care provider Honor struck a partnership with AHA to train its caregivers, called Honor Care Pros, starting May 1, according to Forbes. The deal will arm the startup’s staffers with science-based information to better treat their patients.

Honor has forged similar partnerships with the National Parkinson Foundation and Alzheimer’s Association.

Bayhealth and Bayada Home Health Care Announce Joint Venture

Bayhealth hospital system and home health care provider Bayada Home Health Care are forming a new joint venture to service patients living in central and southern Delaware.

The new partnership, on track to be finalized in June, will be called Bayada Home Health Care at Bayhealth, reports local news publication Smyrna-Clayon Sun-Times. Bayhealth Home Health Care employees will have the opportunity to join the Bayada Home Health Care team. Bayhealth employees who choose to stay within the Bayhealth system may transfer to a comparable open position.

“This joint venture brings together a regionally recognized health system with a nationally renowned home health agency to ensure patients in our community have access to continued high quality in-home care services,” Bayhealth President and CEO Terry Murphy told the news site. “Both organizations share a similar culture and values, as well as a mission to keep people safe and healthy at home.”

Bayada also announced it is buying the home health operations of Lower Bucks Hospital in Philadelphia.

The financial terms of the deal, which will likely close May 22, were not disclosed, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Bayada will continue home health care services for Lower Bucks Hospital patients without interruption, and the hospital’s full-time home health employees will be able to interview for jobs at Bayada, the business site reported.

Medical Equipment Provider Buys Griffin Home Health Care

Charlotte-based Griffin Home Health Care has been purchased by national home medical equipment provider Rotech Healthcare, according to HME Business.

Rotech plans to absorb Griffin’s locations in Charlotte, Concord and Gastonia, North Carolina, and add them to the 18 markets it currently serves in that state.

Griffin, a home health equipment and services provider, first opened its doors in 1983.

Ireland’s RelateCare Expands U.S. Footprint

Irish-American health care consultancy and outsourcing organization RelateCare announced it opened a patient coordination center in Cleveland on April 25th.

The new center offers a range of services that include patient scheduling and a clinical support program led by nurses.

Cleveland was a “natural location” for RelateCare’s first U.S. patient coordination center because the city “offers a strong healthcare infrastructure that includes world-class health care providers, research institutions and an abundant health care workforce,” the company noted in a press release.

Furthermore, RelateCare can trace its roots to a joint venture with Cleveland Clinic Innovations there.

The company says its new Cleveland center is “just the first step of many” in marketing its patient access model to other hospitals and health providers throughout the country.

Homewatch CareGivers Opens Hub in West Florida

National senior-centric home care provider Homewatch CareGivers is expanding to Palm Harbor, Florida.

The provider opened a new location last week, reports local news site TBNweekly.com. Homewatch specializes in home care for seniors living with chronic illnesses, such as dementia.

Homewatch CareGivers has around 200 franchised units across 34 U.S. states as well as some operations in Canada and Central and South America.

ACHC and Home Care Association of America Partner Up

Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) has formed a new partnership with Home Care Association of America (HCAOA).

The agreement, announced last week, will allow HCAOA members to receive special pricing on some of ACHC’s services, including home health, hospice and private duty accreditation. The partnership also gives those members discounts on accreditation resources.

ACHC is a nonprofit organization focused on accreditation services for home health, hospital and private duty agencies. HCAOA is a national home health care agency trade association that currently represents more than 2,500 companies that employ half a million caregivers across the country.

Written by Tim Regan