Feature
The Haelan Group to Add More Jobs in Indiana
December 21, 2006
Indianapolis-based health improvement solutions company will expand locally under new ownership
Haelan CEO and founder Julie A. Meek attributes much of the company's success to the IUETC’s resources. The company was purchased by Florida-based CareGuide Inc. in November 2006, but will remain based in Indianapolis.
When The Haelan Group moved into the IU Emerging Technologies Center (IUETC) in March 2003, the company had five employees. When it moved out in August 2005, the first company to graduate from IU’s business incubator, the company had increased tenfold, said founder and IU alumna Julie A. Meek.
Now, little more than a year after moving out of the IUETC, the company has made another huge stride. In November 2006, The Haelan Group was acquired by CareGuide, Inc., a national disease and health care management company based in Coral Springs, Florida, for $11 million.
Billing itself as a “health improvement solutions company,” The Haelan Group helps small, self-insured businesses cut health care costs by using innovative techniques to analyze the health of their employees. The company uses a technology called One Care Street, which identifies high-risk and high-need individuals and guides the most appropriate care to the right people at the right time.
Upon completion of the merger, Meek will become CareGuide’s chief science officer. Her dream is to change the way health care is delivered in America and reduce employers’ health cost inflation by using smart science and technology to find people ahead of their health crises and coach them to prevent illness.
“The only way we can have a significant impact on this problem is to help people who feel ill get better before they reach acute crisis,” Meek said. The Haelan Group has done a pretty good job of it, according to the Regenstrief Institute at the IU School of Medicine, which conducted an independent evaluation of the One Care Street program and proved it is an effective tool for identifying high-risk and high-need individuals.
Officials at CareGuide believe that the acquisition of The Haelan Group will help advance CareGuide’s service offerings beyond those of its competitors. Chris E. Paterson, president and chief executive officer of CareGuide, said that One Care Street will become a cornerstone of CareGuide’s integrated health management approach.
“We think One Care Street offers a more comprehensive intervention that will result in a higher return on investment for our customers than traditional disease management approaches,” he said.
Meek emphasizes that while CareGuide is based in Florida, the company sees a future for The Haelan Group right here in Indiana. “What excites us is that CareGuide thinks that Indianapolis is a wonderful place to grow their business,” she said. “Although we’ll be owned by a company that’s headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, their intent is to keep all of our current jobs and, better yet, expand on all of those jobs here in Indianapolis.”
