Patient care firm IKOR^® will franchise

Alexandra Scaggs

At 62, Kay Skinner needed her knee replaced and her thyroid removed, but she couldn’t take time away from her family.

Her husband was recovering from a stroke and her sister-in-law was suffering from severe anxiety problems that required supervision.

The marketing director in Skinner’s retirement community suggested she contact IKOR^®, a care management organization in Kennett Square.

“IKOR^® has been a life saver for me,” said Skinner, now 65.

IKOR^® assigned a patient advocate to assist Skinner’s sister-in-law, whom she declined to identify, which freed Skinner to manage her own and her husband’s care.  IKOR^® monitors the sister-in-law’s finances, pays her bills, and checks in on her.  IKOR^® even bought a new TV for her when her old one broke.  Skinner can also track her health status through Datikor^®, a proprietary online link between IKOR^® an its patients’ families.

IKOR^® was founded by Patricia Maisano in 2000.  Maisano, a former nurse, came up with the idea for IKOR^® while working for a firm that helped companies and insurance providers manage care for disabled workers.  One day, she received a call from a woman who needed help caring for an elderly mother.  At that time, Maisano’s business didn’t serve seniors.

“I saw an opportunity to take all the things I had learned over the years in case management, and bring them to bear in a situation where obviously help was needed,” Maisano said.

She expanded her service to the elderly, and adapted the processes to her new clientele.

Around 75 percent of IKOR^®’s customers are elderly.  IKOR^® usually is contacted by a family member of the client, and the patient and family choose which of IKOR^®’s offerings suit them best.   They are assigned one registered nurse to manage their case, at an hourly rate of $108.  Hours are billed in 10-minute increments so caregivers can record exactly how much time they devoted to each case, and charge accordingly.

Intervention Associates in Blue Bell and Elder Connections in King of Prussia also offer care planning services to seniors, but they offer services such as in-home aides and life insurance.

Maisano avoids this to prevent any conflicts of interest in the organization’s recommendations.

Gordon Wase, and attorney with the firm Wase & Wase in Philadelphia, which specializes in elder law, has worked extensively with all three and believes that IKOR^® has the most medical expertise, while the others have stronger psychological or conflict-resolution skills.

Wase works with IKOR^® in situations where the firm has been given legal guardianship or power of attorney over a patient.

“We’ve used IKOR^® over the past several years repeatedly because they have credibility with the courts,” he said.

One of IKOR^®’s assets is Datikor^®, a proprietary online network of health information and records of nurses’ actions that patient advocates and families use to coordinate the patient’s health care.

The system provides families with log-in names to access updates in real time.  If there is an emergency, families are notified immediately, and all the relevant data is uploaded into the system.

The system was developed by India’s Maxnet Technologies at a cost of about $50,000.

Later this month IKOR^® plans to introduce a “telemedicine” system that would allow it to remotely monitor patient.  For example, if a patient has a weight problem or diabetes, IKOR^® will provide a bathroom scale or blood sugar monitor equipped with technology that will send the patient’s weight to Datikor^® and to the nurse’s cell phone.

 IKOR^® also plans to offer a medicine dispenser that tracks whether the client is taking the correct pills each day.  The service will charge by the hour for nurses’ involvement, plus an extra charge for the devices, Maisano said.

“The equipment all exists, we’re just looking at blending it,” Maisano said.

Expansion is also on  IKOR^®’s agenda.  Maisano has set up  IKOR^® USA, and , an administrative company, to award franchises around the region.

“I felt that there was really a strong need for this service, and I really wanted the opportunity for other people to have a chance at ownership of a company doing this type of work.  I felt that it’s a very emotionally-driven kind of business, and there would be a lot more people interested,” she said.

To obtain a franchise, an applicant must be either an experienced registered nurse with a background in management, or a doctor, lawyer, or businessperson with an experienced registered nurse on board.   IKOR^® plans to send employees to each of its franchises once a month for the first three to four months of operations, and then every three months after that.

Maisano has received interest from people in Lancaster and Delaware counties as well as the state of Delaware.

Dr. Jason Karlawish, associate professor of medicine and medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, is on the professional advisory board of Senior Bridge, which provides services similar to those of  IKOR^®.

“The current model of health care is not adequate of acceptable,” Karlawish said.  “Eventually, I would hope that Medicare arrives at that and fills in that gap.  Until then, that is an opportunity for businesses like that…There’s a real need.”