Brightree adopts broader focus

ATLANTA - Considering the number of acquisitions and agreements that it has hammered out recently, it's no surprise that Brightree announced a rebrand in March.

As part of the rebrand, the company has replaced the tree in its logo with three colored squares to represent the increasing interdependencies between care providers, payers and patients.

“As we look at the interdependencies and the software systems that drive them—that's where Brightree believes its place is,” said Chris Watson, COO. “We want to create greater efficiency by helping all three work together.”

The rebrand comes in the midst of a growth spurt for Brightree. In 2013, the company branched out of the HME market when it acquired CareAnywhere, a software company serving home health and hospice providers. This year, it has added patient billing and collection services with its acquisition of Strategic AR, and has integrated with physician systems through a strategic agreement with athenahealth.

All of these activities work toward Brightree's goal of helping to make providers more efficient by simplifying and accelerating the flow of information, documents, work streams and resources.

“We know that our customers, post-acute providers, play a critical role in reducing the cost of care and improving patient outcomes,” Watson said. “We believe our responsibility is to provide them with the technology, best practices and services that can help them take that rightful position.”

Brightree plans to spend $80 million over the next four years to realize its vision. Planned future activities include developing strategic partnerships with manufacturers and distributors to help providers streamline ordering by accessing electronic purchasing directly through its system interface, and developing tablet-based mobile solutions for hospice and home health organizations so they can services patients “where they are.”

“We're trying to help them fit into this brave new world of integrated systems,” Watson said. “Using leading edge technology is a very good approach.”