ClearCare Inc., a developer of desktop and mobile applications for home healthcare agencies, plans to use a new $60 million infusion of venture capital to further update its digital healthcare platform and for general corporate development. The company also has hired a new vice president of engineering.
Battery Ventures Partners was the lead investor. Since its launch in 2011, ClearCare has raised in excess of $75 million.
ClearCares web and mobile platform consists of 20 modules that helps home care agencies organize daily care with patients inside the home with tasks such as preparing meals, bathing, dressing and moving around.
In addition, agencies can use ClearCare to match clients with caregivers and assign a replacement caregiver if a caregiver is unable to report for a shift. Caregivers can access ClearCares web portal to check their schedules and see what care was provided to the patient on a prior shift by another caregiver, as well as receive reminders of upcoming shifts, duties during the shift and care plans via text messages and e-mail.
Families can access ClearCares web portal to stay abreast of the care a relative is receiving. This feature keeps families who might not see that relative daily or that live in a different state current on the level of in-home care the family member is receiving, says ClearCare vice president of marketing Derek Jones.
Home care agencies can also use the platform for office management tasks including billing and payroll. The net benefit to agencies for using our platform is that they operate more efficiently, Jones says.
ClearCares platform has been installed by more than 3,000 home care agencies including big agencies such as Home Instead, Comfort Keepers, Right at Home and Visiting Angels, ClearCare says.
Start-up home care agencies are charged $83.33 per month for the first year, Jones says. More established agencies typically pay fees that ClearCare claims account for under 1% of the agencys total annual revenue, but didnt elaborate.
A key feature of ClearCares platform is that caregivers can document information that can help improve the level of care a patient receives, such as food intake, medication times and trouble shooting and monitoring home safety issues such as frequent falls, Jones says.
Digitally gathering and tracking this type of data is expected to play an important role in linking home care to the broader healthcare system, says Phil Bongiorno, executive director of the Home Care Association of America. The use of technology to collect home data can lead to better patient outcomes and avoid costly hospitalizations, Bongiorno says. With this data, the home care industry can work toward building predictive models that can prevent hospitalizations and readmissions.
ClearCares newest hire as vice president of engineering is Bala Krishna, a former vice president of engineering at Mastercard.
ClearCare claims to have 250,000 caregivers and 150,000 seniors under care on its digital healthcare management platform.
Increasingly, seniors and people who need assistance with daily activities are opting to stay in the comfort of their own homes, says ClearCare CEO Geoff Nudd. This trend will only multiply as the senior population expands with the aging baby-boomer generation.