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Schaumburg's CellTrak gets $11M shot to boost home health care software

Schaumburg firm gets a cash boost for its home health care software

Where most company leaders see their futures in black or red, Mark Battaglia sees a bit more gray.

The CEO of Schaumburg-based CellTrak Technologies is riding a wave of growth in the home health care industry with a multi-prong software product that manages coordination of home health care givers and, in turn, brings cost efficiencies for its users.

The 60-person company's product is being used by more that 200 organizations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., including home health care companies like JourneyCare in Barrington and Addus Home Health, which recently moved its headquarters from Downers Grove to Texas.

Helping CellTrak's growth is an $11 million booster shot from investment firms Boathouse Capital and MK Capital. The cash infusion will help the company expand its software, increase sales and staff and support potential acquisitions.

It's a boost that will help CellTrak play a more dominant role in the niche market that will continue to grow as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers age, Battaglia said.

"The combination of demand as people get older in the marketplace and the technology improving has worked well for us and has seen some good growth, and we're excited to see some more," he said.

CellTrak's 3-prong system sends information from client's electronic medical records directly to caregiver in the field. It gives caregivers a two-way communications system to not only get real-time information from the office, but also update when changes need to made. Finally, it provides portals for those directly related to the client to get updated information.

The system can operate on desktops or through apps on a tablet or smartphone.

With the financial backing, Battaglia said the next steps will be expanding the system to provide more functionality in the workforce management and human resources areas.

"There are lots of issues beyond 'is this person receiving good health care?'" he said. "We plan to expand the platform to address more issues and become a bigger contributor to the success of the industry."

For example, he said the system could provide training for caregivers through their mobile devices, or it could use GPS and internet of Things technology to monitor a client when a caregiver is not present, allowing the care agency to react quickly is something happens.

All this growth at CellTrak also translates to creating more jobs, Battaglia said

"We have a vision of what next-generation care delivery looks like," he said. "That means hiring more people, primarily in our Schaumburg office."

CellTrak will also look at partnerships with other tech companies that could integrate with their systems, he added, or possibly acquiring companies to gain technology that may be too costly to develop on their own.

With an estimated 2.2 million people in caregiver roles today, and another 1 million needed by 2024 as the overall population ages, Battalgia said CellTrak is well-positioned for success.

"The stars have kind of aligned for the potential of this marketplace."

Studies say a person who reaches 65 today will live on average another 19.4 years, so the need for quality and cost-effective home health care support is growing, an area CellTrak software is focused on.
Mark Battaglia

News bytes

<h3 class="briefHead">News Bytes</h3>

• Congratulations to Paylocity CEO Steve Beauchamp, who recently received a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award recognizing the highest-rated CEOs for 2017.

Beauchamp received a 98 percent approval rating based on anonymous, voluntary reviews from employees of the Arlington Heights-based company throughout the last year. The surveys rate various factors about the employee's experience.

In addition to Beauchamp's honor, Glassdoor named Paylocity a 2017 Best Place to Work.

• Zebra Technologies received two communications industry awards for its "Intelligent Enterprise" campaign.

The Lincolnshire-based company received The Golden Trumpet Award from The Publicity Club of Chicago and The Skyline Award from the Public Relations Society of America. The marketing campaign also was a finalist in the North America SABRE Awards, the In2 SABRE Awards and the North American Excellence Awards.

"Our Intelligent Enterprise campaign is unique as it takes a 'show, not tell' approach. Every aspect involves experiential elements creating immersive touchpoints for customers, partners, media, and other influencers," said Jeff Schmitz, Chief Marketing Officer of Zebra Technologies. "Our objective is to share proof points on how Zebra helps our customers become as smart and connected as the world we live in."

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