A social network-styled software platform that integrates healthcare choices to help seniors and their caregivers is raising money for sales and marketing.
Family Health Network, a 2-year-old startup based in Durham, North Carolina, recently raised $200,000. It’s raised about $400,000 overall and could raise another $500,000, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company is developing a product called “Connect for Life.” It includes Facebook-ish features like a list of friends and their contact information, as well as photo albums. But it also has a check-in button that notifies caregivers that the owner is OK. Plus, there’s an online checkoff system for each time someone needs to take medications, a place that lists medications and a list of basic medical questions to help caregivers monitor day-to-day health.
Seniors download software and caregivers connect to the senior’s account through the Web, said company President Harry Bailes. The software costs $40 per month per family. Customers already include retirement communities, physicians’ practices and individuals, Bailes said. Fresh investment will help the company grow staff and begin “aggressive marketing” of Connect for Life, Bailes said.
It’s estimated about 28 million people in the United States care for someone 75 or older and about 88 percent of family caregivers never get a break from caring for their relatives (something technology may be able to help with). Plus, an overwhelming number of caregivers use the Web for healthcare information.
The Family Health Network tries to make working with a computer and the Web almost un-Weblike. The graphics and display are large and simplistic by modern standards. And the product allows users to respond to e-mails through a series of prepared answers or by recording a message. The product is meant to work with touchscreens and without a keyboard. Family Health Network often bundles its software with an HP touchscreen computer, Bailes said.
