Building up a team, going through a merger, launching a new product, making a pivot — all of these steps are things that can make or break a company.
So how do you do them well?
Throughout the year, we're checking in with First Coast executives who have made bold moves and made them successfully.
Jacksonville-based Forcura's COO Annie Erstling has seen substantial growth and evolution of technology in relation to finding solutions for companies in the home health, hospice care, personal care and rehabilitative and home infusion therapy. Erstling has been on the executive team for six years and has previously served as chief strategy officer. She's helped the company be nationally ranked for seventh consecutive year on the Inc. 5000 List.
Can you explain the need of strategic solutions for home health care on the First Coast in light of the increase in the country's and region's aging population?
In the last 10 years, the aging population in the U.S. has grown faster than it has grown since 1890. It's interesting if you think about the impact on the healthcare system as a whole. What we're collectively trying to do is called the triple aim, improve the experience of care, improve the health of the population and reduce per capita costs with healthcare. What we found, as people are aging, they prefer to receive care in the home. It's a better experience for them.
I think home based care is an important piece of the healthcare continuum. If patients know they'll receive high quality care in the home, then they're more apt to stay where they are. For us in Jacksonville, having our population age in place and stay in Jacksonville is only going to reinforce that position of being a leading healthcare destination.
What do you think of the region's burgeoning reputation in the healthcare industry?
Jacksonville is hands-down known for healthcare and we are more and more being known for technology in healthcare. Forcura is focused on technology that supports care transitions in that aging population. I think there's a huge opportunity for Forcura to really be the example for what technology can do to support the growing aging population in the U.S.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing your industry at the moment?
Healthcare on a national scale, we've got to figure out how to be more innovative in delivering care. There's a lot of work being done at the provider level, at the insurance level on how we're delivering the best possible care. The key to solving a lot of this is connectivity. That's where we sit, focusing on driving connectivity and improving care transition.
When we think about that aging population wanting to be at home, they're going to be at different points in their healthcare journey, needing to go into a facility or receiving care for an acute episode in a hospital. In order for them to have the best possible patient experience we need to make sure as they leave the hospital to receive care at home, the next provider has the right information at the right time to deliver the right protocol to that patient.
How do you see Forcura positioned as of second quarter 2023 and heading into the future?
We're in the right spot, right industry at the right time. I think there's a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to grow. We have had pretty dramatic year-over-year growth since the company was founded 12 years ago. We have almost half of the home health market across the U.S. in terms of patient volume that's flowing through our system.
Where we're going next is around how do we connect home-based care providers more closely with the primary care physicians. We're really excited about that work effort. If you think about the healthcare network of providers, that primary physician is really the key ... kind of the quarterback of that patient's care. A lot of the tech that we are building today is specific to the primary care physician to make sure they can communicate and collaborate with any other provider working with that specific patient.
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