“What we offer is the opportunity to save you time and eliminate the frustrations of navigating the healthcare system.”

Curus Healthcare Solutions

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As I mentioned in my first post of 2022, this year I want to explore how the use of technology in health care can save time for patients, their families, and front-line health care workers. But, in this post, instead of talking about technology, I’m going to focus on people – specifically people helping people.

First, a disclaimer. For the first time since I began writing this blog, I will focus on a specific company, Curus Healthcare Solutions. I have no financial or other business interests in the company. I will discuss my personal experience and that of other family members with them. I’ll also make some recommendations at the end that I believe can help others facing a similar situation.

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Introduction – In my advisory capacity with The Center for Innovation Commercialization, I get the chance to meet with and listen to companies who are developing innovative products and services for health care. That was the case with Curus Healthcare Solutions. I was introduced to Mark Schlussel, the CEO, and Jared Mort, the COO, and had an extensive conversation about their work in helping patients and their families navigate the complexities of our so-called health “system” when trying to manage care for themselves or loved one. After 40-plus years in the health care industry, I’ve heard dozens of companies profess to be “patient-centric” or “putting the patient at the center of what we do.” So, you can imagine that I was skeptical at first about what I was about to hear. After the usual formalities and introductions were over, within two minutes, I knew I was experiencing something very different. Listening to what the company had already accomplished and their plans for growth, I was struck by the passion for service I heard from both executives. Digging a bit deeper and researching the company’s claims, I found that people using their services were uniform in their praise.

I left that conversation very impressed with the organization, their people, their business model, their growth plans, and the results they were delivering for their members. Little did I know at that time how soon members of my own family would require those services.

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Beyond Theory, Becoming Reality – Two months after that initial introduction, I received a call from a family member trying to manage an urgent situation for their spouse who had multiple chronic conditions. They needed to find a skilled nursing facility and get a transfer done within forty-eight hours and were in a panic. I remembered the conversation I had with Curus and reached out to Jared to see if they could do anything to help. Instant response: “put us in touch with your relatives, and we’ll get to work.” Several phone calls followed, and to my amazement, Curus was able to find a suitable SNF close to my relative’s home and facilitate the transfer – all in under forty-eight hours. My relatives signed a chronic care agreement with Curus. They have been managing all the care for this individual through several hospital admissions, rehab work, and a return to the SNF for some ongoing care.

Shortly after that, the spouse received a diagnosis of cancer and faced the double dilemma of “what do I do now that both of us are ill and facing a period requiring intensive care at multiple sites over an extended amount of time.” Another call, a lengthy discussion, and a second chronic care agreement was signed. Since that time, Curus has managed every aspect of their care, from scheduling appointments to dealing with insurance coverage, arranging for assistance with home care, and consolidating all the medical records from multiple specialists into a comprehensive personal health record. Once everything was in place, Curus reviewed the recommended care plan with my family members and answered their questions.

“If I didn’t have Sara and Jared helping me though this, I’d be lost.”

Family member

Am I a fan? Absolutely. Would I recommend them to others? I would, and I have. A congregation member at the church we attend is trying to manage multiple co-morbidities with both in-network and out-of-network physicians. As you might expect, they’re going crazy trying to figure out what’s covered, what isn’t, and how much the out-of-pocket costs are. I’m in the process of trying to connect them with Curus to see whether they can help.

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Since it’s too late to offer some suggestions for New Year’s Resolutions, I’ll make a few targeted recommendations based on my personal experiences as described above:

If you are an employer – Consider engaging with a company like Curus to help your employees manage their health care needs, deal with multiple chronic conditions, eliminate unnecessary care, and lower overall annual costs of care for your organization without impacting the quality of care your employees receive. As businesses deal with “the Great Resignation” and Post-COVID neurological, vascular, renal, and gastrointestinal syndromes, this type of care navigation benefit will be well-received by potential and existing employees.

“We at Curus believe that care navigation as well as care orchestration are going to be to critical components within the total healthcare spend.”

Mark Schlussel, CEO, Curus Healthcare Solutions

If you are a health care benefits advisor/manager – Adding the services that Curus provides to your portfolio of services creates differentiation in the market and positions you to grow your client base.

If you are a patient – As you can tell from my family’s experience, having someone you can trust to take over the critical functions of dealing with the complexities of our health system takes away the stress of managing this yourself and provides you with confidence that your needs are being looked after.

If you are a family member trying to manage care for a loved one – Families in the “sandwich generation” who are trying to manage care for elderly parents and children, usually from a distance, can benefit from having a care navigator who is focused on their specific needs instead of cookie-cutter approaches and helps to manage both sides of this very complex situation.

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I hope that this information is helpful. As a long-time skeptic of how marketing messages are delivered and of companies that only “talk the talk,” it is encouraging to find a company that genuinely lives its mission and actually “walks the walk.” Thanks, Curus team, for giving my family peace of mind. You have no idea how much that means.