Home care technology is evolving rapidly, with emerging innovations such as artificial intelligence presenting exciting growth opportunities for providers. HarmonyCares, a physician group that delivers home care services to high-needs patients, recently raised $200 million of capital to leverage new technology to produce better outcomes for patients and clinicians, the firm disclosed this week.
“We’ve assessed what we’re using and see an opportunity for us to significantly upgrade,” HarmonyCares CEO Matt Chance said Tuesday in an interview with McKnight’s Home Care. “Considering all the things that are coming out right now around AI and machine learning and some of those other areas, investments in logistics and routing technology within populations we serve allow us to be more efficient, effective and really get out to those populations in a more effective way.”
HarmonyCares, which primarily offers in-home primary care, home health, hospice, palliative care, radiology and laboratory services, is particularly interested in upgrading its logistics systems for scheduling, tracking and deploying staff members, Chance said. It also has earmarked some of the $200 million investment to improve its electronic medical records system.
“Most EMRs are not really built to do in-home work,” Chance said. “So what we’re trying to do is lay out workflows that are patient- and provider-centric at the same time and allow us to create a better experience, where the providers cannot just interact with a patient while they’re on their laptops but interact in a way that’s cohesive to the visit.”
With the funds it raised, the firm is searching for ways that technology can help it better address patients’ social determinants of health, or SDOH, according to Chance.
“SDOH is really important in this population,” he said. “There’s some technology out there that allows us to connect to the broader community resources. We’re using some of those now, but we’re going to continue to enhance that.”
Such upgrades are critical to HarmonyCares’ twofold growth strategy. The $200 million investment, which included contributions from private equity and venture capital firms General Catalyst, McKesson Ventures, K2 HealthVentures, Rubicon Founders, Valtruis, HLM Capital and Oak HC/FT, will help the firm deepen its impact in existing markets while also helping it scale into new geographies and cultivate partnerships, according to Chance. Currently, the company serves more than 70,000 patients in 15 states.
Technologic innovation is crucial for success within value-based care, he added. HarmonyCares is focused on serving both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients. The recent investment will allow the company to expand the reach of its value-based model to patients with limited access to care.
“For this type of model to work, you really have to be in one of these value-based models,” he explained. “So for us, being in value-based arrangements with both managed care plans and with the government programs that are available is vitally important for us to be able to grow and expand to drive access for the population.”
The McKnight’s Tech Daily is an e-newsletter for the audiences of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care.
