SCARSDALE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eFamilyCare, a leading mobile platform that connects family caregivers with one-on-one expert support in navigating the healthcare system, today announced pioneers in Healthcare Transformation, Alzheimer’s, and Nursing have been appointed to the company’s Board of Advisors. The appointments follow the company’s recent announcements of collaborations with Northwell Health, the largest health system in the Tri-state region, and Superior HealthPlan, the lead Medicaid plan in Texas, and include:
- John W. Rowe, M.D., Chair of the eFamilyCare Advisory Board, and Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; past Chairman and CEO of Aetna, past CEO of Mt. Sinai Health
- Denis Cortese, MD, Professor of Health Delivery and Policy, Arizona State University; President, Healthcare Transformation Institute; Emeritus President & CEO of The Mayo Clinic
- Howard Fillit, MD, Clinical Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Medicine and Neuroscience, Mount Sinai Ichan School of Medicine; Founding Executive Director, Institute for The Study of Aging; Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation
- Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, President of The John A. Hartford Foundation; Founding Dean, NYU College of Nursing, past Dean, Health Sciences of Northeastern University
- Jason Karlawish, MD, Professor of Medicine, Medical Ethics, Health Policy, and Neurology, University of Pennsylvania; Co-Director, Penn Memory Center; Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
“We’re thrilled to welcome these impressive and highly regarded industry pioneers as we advance our journey to empower and recognize family members as essential partners in the healthcare ecosystem” said Eric C. Rackow, MD, eFamilyCare co-founder and CEO. “When family caregivers receive eFamilyCare’s virtual support, their stress levels are reduced by 50% and the well-being of the person for whom they are caring is improved. As we build on the success of our program through partnerships with some of the nation’s leading health plans and providers, their insights poise eFamilyCare to shape healthcare in an incredibly impactful way and fulfill our mission of helping those that need it most.”
In addition, eFamilyCare announced the appointment of a new Vice President of Partnerships to meet increasing demand by health plans and hospitals to reduce hospital admissions and improve experiences and outcomes among vulnerable adults and children by equipping family caregivers with anytime-anywhere, one-on-one support.
The Vice President, David Zyhcowski, is the sixth eFamilyCare leader to bring expertise as a Humana At Home care management leader. Other leaders include:
- Eric C. Rackow, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of eFamilyCare who previously served as President of Humana At Home.
- Claudia Fine, LCSW, MPH, Chief Professional Officer at eFamilyCare, who previously served in the same role at Humana At home.
- Karen Katter, MPA, Chief Operations Officer, who was previously Director of Care Management Networks at Humana At Home
- Boyd Adolffson, MS-ISM, Chief Innovation Officer who was the Information Technology Officer at SeniorBridge, a division of Humana At Home.
- Jay S. Weinstein, MD, MBA, Chief Clinical Officer who was the past consulting Medical Director at Humana At Home and currently Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine
“Informed and empowered family caregivers have long been the untapped and overlooked secret ingredient to improved health outcomes, cost efficiencies and experiences of patients and families - and surprisingly, no one was seriously addressing their pains and priorities in a meaningful way,” said John W. Rowe, M.D., who serves as Chair of the eFamilyCare Advisory Board. “eFamilyCare is truly disrupting healthcare by both providing sorely needed and generally hard to access support to vulnerable adults and children and alleviating substantial mental and physical stress on caregivers themselves.”
“Family caregivers experience notable challenges caring for older adults. These include the convergence of disabling cognitive and medical disorders, distance, and limits of time,” added Jason Karlawish, MD. “There are substantial opportunities to improve this experience. They begin with recognizing the role of family caregivers in reporting their perspectives about the health of their loved ones and providing physical and social support.”
About eFamilyCare
eFamilyCare provides one-on-one support to family caregivers on how to navigate the healthcare system and access medical and social resources including self-care resources. Support is provided through a telehealth platform by expert Care Advisers who are available any time via instant messaging and video and who build a personalized plan for ongoing support. eFamilyCare's Co-Founder, Dr. Eric Rackow (former President of NYU Hospitals Center) saw first-hand the need to better support family caregivers of patients who were unnecessarily experiencing frequent hospitalizations. His insights led him to develop a unique model of complex chronic care management and homecare solutions nationwide. His story, like the other founders of eFamilyCare, helped to create the industry-leading platform to connect family caregivers to experts anytime, anywhere. For more information about eFamilyCare, visit https://efamilycare.com/.
