CareSync, a Wesley Chapel-based health management company, is in the midst of a growth spurt with new investments of $18 million, and a plan to hire 500 new employees over the next 18 months.
About 100 jobs will be in marketing, sales and development. But, most will be for people with medical backgrounds, including registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and clinicians. Some positions also might go to people who have the drive and desire to become a nurse.
The start-up company launched nearly four years ago as a software and service provider for chronic disease management. There currently are nearly 120 employees.
(Images courtesy of CareSync)
The company’s users include health care providers, caretakers and individual patients who want to collect, organize and store medical data for quick, easy reference.
The idea is to put everyone involved in a patient’s care on the same page, sharing an entire medical history.
“We are all about creating care plans,” said Travis Bond, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.
The company offers options on how to accomplish that task.
A free app is available for people who want a “do-it-yourself” approach.
However, the company also offers a range of fee-based services where retrieval specialists collect, enter and organize medical information from multiple providers. Physicians, nurses and family members, as well as individual patients, can access the centralized data to coordinate care. This can include scheduling appointments, putting together a list of questions to ask the doctor, tracking medications and avoiding the duplication of medical tests.
“You can invite others to share your data,” Bond said. “That’s helpful, because typically a caretaker feels intimidated because of lack of data. They lack training and confidence.”
About one-third of CareSync’s users are children caring for elderly parents, Bond said.
The program also aids physicians in coordinating care, especially when multiple providers are involved.
CareSync also aids in billing procedures and meeting requirements for Medicare’s chronic disease management goals.
Bond’s motivation in creating his company, in part, came from a friend’s struggle to manage the care of her daughter who has an autoimmune disease.
The friend is a nurse, but even she was overwhelmed trying to cope with 12 doctors and six emergency medical records (EMR) in three states.
“If she can’t do it, no one can,” Bond said. “It bogs down the velocity of care.”
And, he said it creates a “dark space between doctors and appointments. How is it we can help individuals become more informed when not at a point of care?”
While CareSync’s headquarters are in Wesley Chapel, the company operates a nursing center in Wauchula in Hardee County where medical advice and planning is available on a 24-hour basis. Bond hopes to open a nursing center in Wesley Chapel, too.
The $18 million in funding is from new investors Merck Global Health Fund, Greycroft Partners and Harbert Venture Partners, and also current investors Tullis Health Investors, Clearwell Group, CDH Solutions and Bond.
The funding reflects the growth in the chronic disease management industry and recognition by physicians that case management will be here for years to come, Bond said.
“These are lasting, long-term careers. It’s really a big deal,” he said.
For information call CareSync at (800) 587-5227, or visit CareSync.com.
Published October 21, 2015
