What You Should Know:
– Carallel, a Chicago, IL-based provider of human-centered guidance and digital tools for family caregivers raises a $8.2M Series A funding round led by FCA Venture Partners, with participation from prominent regional payers including 450 Ventures, as well as Create Health Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, Loud Capital, and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments.
– Carallel uses expert guidance and digital tools to identify and empower caregivers so they can confidently manage the twists and turns of caregiving.
Caregivers are a hidden force
The need for this support is long overdue: The average caregiver spends 24 hours per week caring for family members or loved ones, while many provide over 40 hours of care per week without compensation or support. This translates to an estimated annual cost of $264 billion in lost income and poorer health outcomes.
Co-founders Hillary Ebach and John Banta created Carallel in 2017 because of their experience caring for their aging parents. Even with their backgrounds in finance, law and healthcare, the experience was daunting for Hillary and John. Knowing they were not the only ones, they didn’t want others to walk the caregiving journey alone. Carallel uses expert guidance and digital tools to identify and empower caregivers so they can confidently manage the twists and turns of caregiving.
Adoption/Traction to Date
Carallel already supports more than 400,000 Medicare Advantage and commercially insured members and their caregivers nationally. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its reach in both the Medicare Advantage and commercial markets. The funds will also support increased development of dynamic digital experiences, expansion of peer-to-peer support, and targeted care interventions. The company plans to launch new programs for 2023 with a number of plans including NextBlue of North Dakota, Priority Health, and Vermont Blue Advantage, among others. These programs represent innovative ways for plans to improve Medicare Stars performance, to extend care management for quality improvement, and to differentiate themselves in competitive markets.
Reducing Stress in 90% of Caregivers
Carallel is proven to reduce stress in 90% of caregivers and improve confidence in decision-making for 87% of caregivers, according to a 2020 survey of Carallel users. And, with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 88, Carallel is building trust with members, directly impacting quality metrics such as Medicare Star Ratings and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS) survey. Stars performance declined in 2022 while voluntary member churn increased, and there are more headwinds coming as weighting of CAHPS measures will account for over half of Stars performance in 2023. McKinsey reports that satisfied health plan members are five times more likely to renew than unsatisfied members, while plans with 4+ Medicare Stars ratings add new members at twice the rate of other plans.
“I felt completely powerless when my mom started showing signs of cognitive decline, because I live far away, and my parents were in denial. I was constantly worried about her safety and missing critical early interventions,” said Rani Waterman, family caregiver and occupational therapist. “But, my Carallel Care Advocate listened to me, gave me concrete things I could do, and connected me with resources and benefits I didn’t know existed. Now, we’re making progress with mom and I feel more able to help. I’m really grateful for the program.”
