CareShare has changed the web address of its application to make it easier for our users. All CareShare services can be accessed at www.careshare.co

CareShare public pages are now accessed at ___.careshare.co (example: Saginaw Valley Neurosurgery is now accessible at svns.careshare.co)

We have developed a number of new strategic partnerships over the last few weeks. These partners will result in a greatly expanded service offering for CareShare social network members, particularly in CareShare’s ability to create diagnoses automatically and communicate these diagnoses to CareShare network partners. We’re thrilled to be able to work with other incredible technology developers to make healthcare cheaper and more accessible.

If you have interest in bridging your system with CareShare – please contact us!

Over the next several weeks, we will release videos describing CareShare’s core functionalities. Here’s our brief introduction to CareShare. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to get in touch with us.

We’re continuing to push forward and implement at a number of institutions in Michigan. We’ve been quiet lately – that’s mainly because our noses are to the grindstone doing everything we can to process the feedback of our users and make CareShare a better system.

As CareShare’s team interacts more and more with potential partners and investors, the need to concisely describe CareShare has become more acute.

Among the questions I get asked on a daily basis: “So you transfer scans?” “CareShare’s a tool for videoconferencing?” “People can earn points?” “Wait, it replaces the fax machine?” “Are you a health information exchange?” “WHAT?”

Here’s our concise answer: CareShare applies social networking and games to healthcare’s critical challenges.

Let’s break this apart and shake it out. Starting from the end, let’s identify “Healthcare’s Critical Challenges.” None of healthcare’s challenges are more critical than the cost of care. According to Kaiser, in 2008, U.S. health care spending was about $7,681 per resident and accounted for 16.2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); this is among the highest of all industrialized countries. And at least 7% of health care expenditures are for administrative costs. CareShare dramatically reduces the administrative costs associated with healthcare.

CareShare’s team believes that most administrative costs of healthcare stem from a lack of efficient connectivity. Healthcare, particularly in America, remains one of the most decentralized and fragmented industries in the world. Seemingly every rural town in America has a small hospital. Often physician practices, home healthcare companies, nursing homes, physical therapy providers, imaging centers, and other healthcare entities are independent, or in different networks. The EMR and other technologies that drive these entities often do not communicate with each other efficiently, due both to the siloed nature of pre-cloud systems and the competition that persists between and among competing health information technologies. CareShare brings each of these entities together in a single social network. CareShare then becomes a medical information transit conduit connecting EMR technologies of differing organizations on the social network without competing with these technologies.

CareShare’s team also believes that most caregivers generally hate health information technologies, reducing their efficiency. We have observed, however, that healthcare support staff love to use their own non-healthcare social networks. We take note of what works in the social networking sites that most caregivers use on a daily basis and apply it to healthcare. CareShare also integrates games, and rewards users for using CareShare, at every step of the way. Users on CareShare earn badges and points that they can redeem for prizes when they complete tasks that save healthcare costs. CareShare incentivizes caregivers and staff to adopt healthcare processes that reduce costs through the creative application of games.

After that, the answer to “what is CareShare?” gets pretty specific. CareShare incorporates patient check in, medical scan transfer, referrals, and telemedicine into its social network. CareShare connects patients with caregivers, and caregivers with each other, to increase connectivity and reduce the costs in healthcare. We’ve found that beyond this, it’s better just to show people – if you would like to see more, check out our YouTube Channel or better yet, sign up your healthcare organization for free. If you’re a patient and want to get on CareShare, simply ask your caregiver to connect with you through their CareShare account.

CareShare is a solution that will revolutionize healthcare by reducing the costs and realigning incentives to all of healthcare’s varied stakeholders, to make healthcare better for everyone.