Father’s personal experience drives hospitals to improve patient communication

CareCircle fills gap after CarePages closure leaves hospitals in a bind

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After experiencing the challenges that come with communicating with friends and family from during his daughter's chemotherapy treatment for a rare disease, Nathan Loding, 34, of Grand Rapids thought there had to be a better way to keep friends and family updated on his daughter’s condition and get the support their family needed.

Thanks to his livelihood as a software developer at Grand Rapids-based global business technology firm OST, he quickly turned his idea into reality.

The result is CareCircle (www.carecircle.com), a secure website that allows patients to safely provide updates on their health and share private information with a select audience. The site launched Sept. 1 and has already been piloted by one of the nation’s largest health care systems.

The platform is wholly-owned and operated by OST.

CareCircle’s launch is very timely, as popular patient communication website CarePages shuttered its operations in late 2017 and has left many health systems scrambling to identify a safe, reliable, solution.

“When my daughter started treatment, we struggled with communicating updates to family and friends. The existing platforms either lacked the privacy or functionality we needed,” said Loding. “I knew there was a better way and that OST was uniquely positioned to make it a reality. That's how the idea for CareCircle was born."

CareCircle works with health systems to offer a ‘plug-and-play’ patient experience tool that can be branded for that health system.

The service is a subscription-based, so hospitals work with OST to build and brand the website to their needs. The platform has already been tested at a major Midwest health system, paving the way for the provider to rollout to patients later this year.

With a nationally-recognized hospital system soon to announce its use of CareCircle, OST leaders expect others to sign up to offer for patient use.

“Nathan’s firsthand experience, coupled with OST’s 20 years of experience in health care information technology helps customers understand that this is a patient-centered solution,” said Laura Vaughn, product owner, OST. “We’re confident that CareCircle fills a void for health systems looking to expand their patient experience into the digital space.”

CareCircle hits the market at a unique time, as secure, private patient communication products are hard to come by, and health research has indicated that these platforms contribute to the well-being and healing of patients.

Studies have shown that patients who build robust social relationships show an improvement in their quality of life and even an increased chance of survival.

"When patients need support, they seek a safe space to talk openly about this sensitive time in their life," said Jim VanderMey, chief innovation officer, OST. "OST’s extensive health care industry experience has ensured that CareCircle is not only easy to use, but that it also works to protect the personal nature of a patient's health journey."

CareCircle is very easy for a patient or loved one to operate. Users simply log in to the health system’s CareCircle site and create a page. From there, the patient can begin sharing information and invite specific people to view the page. The platform is mobile and tablet-responsive as well.

About OST
www.ostusa.com
Founded in 1997, OST is an integrated, cross-functional business technology firm bringing together strategy & insights, digital experiences, connected products, data center transformation and enterprise managed services as they work alongside clients to optimize and grow their businesses. With offices located in Grand Rapids, Detroit, Minneapolis, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, OST and OpenDigital, the digital consultancy at OST, engage in ways that make the most sense and yield the best results for global Fortune 2000 companies to funded startups. This is all wrapped in a friendly, flexible, people-centered culture. OST has been recognized in Inc. Magazine’s 5,000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, CRN’s Tech Elite 250, and as a National Best & Brightest Company to Work For. 

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