Jerry Felix and Bill Nadler of CCM Link
How did you start your business?
We have been business partners since 1996, when we founded EC Link, an IT management and software company. In 2003, EC Link wrote the HIPAA-compliant case-management software responsible for coordinating care of more than 14,000 Medicaid patients across the state.
The Medicaid waiver programs aim to care for chronic and severe patients, primarily in their own homes. Care of such patients often requires the coordination of many professionals, as well as family and friends
Our new company, CCM Link, is a new venture, utilizing our expertise and skills in the healthcare arena. In 2011, we had the idea to apply what we learned with our case-management software to the general challenge of providing care for anyone – not just Medicaid patients.
The concept is to provide a mobile web-application that facilitates the care of someone, by providing a Care Team communications tool, and a reminder and tracking system.
How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Jerry is from a family of eight kids. His mom was afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and his dad became the primary caregiver for his mom. Meanwhile, his dad had health issues of his own which were compounded by the pressures of being the primary caregiver and watching his lifelong partner fade away.
With 10 family members, plus numerous aides, nurses, doctors, distant family and neighbors, it soon became evident that some sort of communication and tracking tool was needed. The systems in place were primarily email and written notes.
With so many members and caretakers, the family struggled with keeping track of medications and compliance, communicating care protocols, keeping track of medical history, coordinating appointments and care, communicating status updates.
What resources here did you take advantage of and how did they help?
Having the EC Link resources has helped tremendously (web developers, sales and marketing team). Also, we’ve talked to a lot of people in the healthcare field in Cincinnati, who have all helped to guide our development and validate our plan.
The Innov8 for Health program has been a great resource. They helped give feedback on our product direction, got us in front of prospects and others who could give feedback and helped to arrange meetings with potential investors.
Our VP of sales has been with us for about 10 years, and has been a great resource. This is a guy who had founded an IT company and got it on the
Inc. 500 list four years in a row – a list of the fastest-growing companies. He helped to grow it to $150 million in sales. And we are lucky to have him on our staff, and as an advisor (in a non-principal role).
Interview by Robin Donovan