news

October 26, 2011, Atlanta, Georgia:  Ken Accardi, Ankota's Chief Technology Officer and noted visionary, will present today on immediate opportunities and the role that HME / DME providers will play in rapidly evolving healthcare delivery models. With Competitive Bidding, Health Care reform, and the rise of Accountable Care Organizations, HMEs must adapt now to survive and grow. There are immediate and substantial savings available to those that do, effectively positioning them for integrated healthcare delivery models that rapidly approach.

Included in Mr. Accardi's presentation is the "HME Technology Booster Shot," which outlines specific steps that HMEs can take today to cut operating costs, scale operations, and position themselves to be relevant in Accountable Care models. Ken will also be featured on a Medtrade discussion panel titled "What can GPS Technology do for Your HME Business?" 

9:15-10:15am: HME Technology Booster Shot, room B305

10:30-11:30am: What Can GPS Technology Do For Your HME Business, room B305

For a copy of the presentation or to learn more about how technology can immediately improve your HME Business, click this orange button

Ankota and Mediware  (NASDAQ: MEDW) announced today immediate availability of Ankota’s Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) suite for Mediware’s HomecareNet customers.

Ankota HDM is fully integrated with HomecareNet and already in use with customers. Orders generated in HomecareNet pass automatically into Ankota HDM, where customers use Ankota’s advanced scheduling and optimization technology to schedule deliveries, build routes, and track deliveries, leveraging a process that eliminates paper processes and is 100% electronic. Businesses using HomecareNet and Ankota HDM are able to realize dramatic reductions in operating expenses and mileage and fuel expenses, and increase delivery capacity immediately.

Following on the heels of the announcement of Ankota’s Telephony for Caretinuum customers, this announcement extends the Ankota-Mediware partnership and provides Ankota’s ground-breaking Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) technology to HomecareNet customers.

Mediware customers can request more information or purchase Ankota HDM by contacting Ankota directly will.hicklen@ankota.com

About Ankota

Ankota, Inc. is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home health care. Ankota’s HDM technology organizes healthcare into a “delivery model” to better plan, coordinate and deliver care in the home, with immediate cost savings and productivity improvements for providers. Ankota’s customers include companies involved in providing home health services and private duty care, delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, and many forms of home-based therapy (from infusion and respiratory services to occupational and physical therapy). Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Chicago. For more information, please visit http://www.ankota.com.

About Mediware

Mediware delivers interoperable best of breed software systems that improve efficiencies and address safety concerns to enable healthcare organizations to improve care processes while decreasing costs. Core Mediware solutions include blood management technologies for hospitals and blood centers; medication management solutions for hospitals, behavioral health facilities, infusion and specialty pharmacy providers; and business intelligence based performance management solutions for clinical, regulatory and financial aspects of the broader healthcare market. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit our web site at www.mediware.com .

Ankota and Mediware  (NASDAQ: MEDW) announced today immediate availability of Ankota Telephony for Caretinuum, offering the software FREE OF CHARGE to current Caretinuum customers until October 31, 2011. Telephony usage fees apply are discounted for Mediware’s customers.

With the industry’s most advanced telephony solution, Ankota is the exclusive provider of telephony technology that is fully integrated with Caretinuum.  Customers use Ankota’s telephony for time tracking and interoperability with care plans, including checklists, full visit reviews, missed arrival alerts, and more.

Caretinuum customers can request more information or activate telephony features by contacting Ankota directly will.hicklen@ankota.com

About Ankota

Ankota, Inc. is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home health care. Ankota’s HDM technology organizes healthcare into a “delivery model” to better plan, coordinate and deliver care in the home, with immediate cost savings and productivity improvements for providers. Ankota’s customers include companies involved in providing home health services and private duty care, delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, and many forms of home-based therapy (from infusion and respiratory services to occupational and physical therapy). Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Chicago. For more information, please visit http://www.ankota.com.

About Mediware

Mediware delivers interoperable best of breed software systems that improve efficiencies and address safety concerns to enable healthcare organizations to improve care processes while decreasing costs. Core Mediware solutions include blood management technologies for hospitals and blood centers; medication management solutions for hospitals, behavioral health facilities, infusion and specialty pharmacy providers; and business intelligence based performance management solutions for clinical, regulatory and financial aspects of the broader healthcare market. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit www.mediware.com .

By the Chesapeake Regional Technology Council

Baltimore, MD, February 23, 2011 -  Ankota was named as a finalist for "The Innovator Award" for 2011 by the Chesapeake Regional Technology Council.  The award ceremony will be held on Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 6:00 PM at the Westin Baltimore Washington Airport Hotel - BWQ which is located at 1110 Old Elkridge Laning Road in Linthicum Heights MS 21090.

This award program, initiated in 2005, honors the regions top technology companies.  To learn more about the award program, including sponsors and past winners, click here.  To see the complete announcement of finalists, click here.

Ankota CEO, Will Hicklen, commented, "It's an honor to be named as a finalist for this prestigious award that has recognized innovative and successful technology players from our region.  Our innovations in the delivery of healthcare are bearing fruit and allowing better care to be delivered at lower cost, which is a reward unto itself."

About Ankota™

Ankota, Inc. is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home health care. Ankota’s HDM technology organizes healthcare into a “delivery model” to better plan, coordinate and deliver care in the home, with immediate cost savings and productivity improvements for providers. Ankota’s customers include companies involved in providing home health services and private duty care, delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, and infusion and respiratory therapy. Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago. For more information, please visit www.ankota.com.

Metro Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland (December 7, 2010) – BeClose, the new wireless technology used to provide caregivers with at-home monitoring while providing additional oversight to aging adults, and Ankota, the leading provider of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) solutions, today announced a unique collaboration for the home health care marketplace. Ankota’s technology helps home care companies improve both the quality and efficiency of care delivered in the home and includes tools to better manage family communications. Combined with a BeClose monitoring system, familial caregivers can take advantage of two aspects of oversight: Personal attention when a caregiver is in the home, and the use of digital monitors when they are not. The full program gives a thorough picture of patients who are aging in place, disabled, or recovering, but without 24-hour personal care.

The partnership comes at a time when home care agencies are facing unprecedented demand — 8,000 Americans turn 65 years of age each day. These agencies are challenged to operate efficiently and cost effectively, while maintaining strong connections and providing great service to family members. To achieve these goals, BeClose and Ankota’s offering will both enhance customer service and improve efficiency with the families they serve.

Ankota’s goal is to continually improve patient care while decreasing healthcare delivery costs. BeClose helps to achieve these goals by delivering remote monitoring technology that helps caregivers stay in close touch with their loved ones who are aging in place. Families can get real time data, set parameters around daily activities, and gain an accurate sense of what is going on in the home or if a patient is in need – even when no one is at home with the patient.

Ankota’s goal is to continually improve patient care while decreasing healthcare delivery costs. BeClose helps to achieve these goals by delivering remote monitoring technology that helps caregivers stay in close touch with their loved ones who are aging in place. Families can get real time data, set parameters around daily activities, and gain an accurate sense of what is going on in the home or if a patient is in need – even when no one is at home with the patient.

“We know that home care agencies aim to not just serve the elderly and disabled, but also their families,” said Liddy Manson, President of BeClose. “Our system helps familial caregivers fill in the hours when home care is not onsite, in a way that makes geographic distances go away, and it delivers ongoing information that can show changes in critical patterns of behavior and identify a problem before it becomes a crisis.”

“Bringing together BeClose at-home monitoring with Ankota’s family communications technology under a coordinated model is an obvious solution,” added Will Hicklen, Ankota’s CEO. “Home care providers are improving their services to include remote home monitoring and consistent communication with family members, and the Ankota-BeClose collaboration provides new revenue opportunities for home care agencies while substantially improving services to their clients.”

Ankota clients’ families enjoy substantial discounts on the BeClose home monitoring service under the terms of the collaboration.

About Ankota™

Ankota, Inc. is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home health care. Ankota’s HDM technology organizes healthcare into a “delivery model” to better plan, coordinate and deliver care in the home, with immediate cost savings and productivity improvements for providers. Ankota’s customers include companies involved in providing home health services and private duty care, delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, and infusion and respiratory therapy. Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago. For more information, please visit www.ankota.com.

About BeClose™

BeCloseTM is a breakthrough remote home monitoring system designed to allow people to age in place independently while giving their family members and caregivers the peace of mind of
knowing that they’re safe. The system of wireless sensors is fully customizable and tech – friendly. The system is based on a research and development partnership with Alarm.com, the nation’s leading in-home wireless monitoring system, serving more than 400,000 homes and businesses nationwide. By leveraging the patented alarm.com technology platform, BeClose can scale usage on a proven system that processes more than 25 Million security and safety events every month. BeClose headquarters are outside of Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.beclose.com

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New Alliance Combines Ankota’s Innovative Technology with CareCentric’s Pioneering Solutions for Home Health, Home Medical Equipment, Hospice and Private Duty Services

Baltimore, MD and Atlanta, GA, December 6, 2010 – Ankota, a Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) business with a patient-centric, performance-focused approach to managing the delivery of care, and CareCentric, a healthcare solutions company that has offered industry-leading software and services to post-acute care providers for more than 40 years, announced a strategic alliance today to provide home health provider organizations with greater efficiencies resulting in immediate cost savings and increased productivity.

Under the terms of the agreement, CareCentric will sell and support the combined solution with its Caretinuum™ software product. Ankota’s technology for managing the delivery of care will be integrated with CareCentric’s capabilities for managing the business side of care.  Specifically, Ankota will provide optimization of staff schedules and travel plans, provide mobile work management capabilities to home medical equipment (HME) delivery workers and bring voice response telephony capabilities for nurses, paraprofessional home health aides and delivery staff.  When joined with CareCentric’s patient billing, medical equipment inventory and point-of-care nursing documentation, the combined solution sets a new standard for managing healthcare delivery models and positions both companies for accelerated growth. Customers will benefit immediately through substantial reductions in operating costs and increases in capacity to provide care for homebound patients.

“This strategic alliance brings together CareCentric’s decades of market-leading healthcare solutions in key market segments with Ankota’s cutting-edge innovation and technology to provide a new level of efficiency and coordination of post-acute care services,” said Ankota CEO and Founder Will Hicklen. “Customers who take advantage of our combined product will dramatically increase productivity right away while continuing to fine-tune their coordination, distribution and mobile delivery models.”

Ankota and CareCentric now offer the HME market a powerful, integrated tool to reduce expenses and increase productivity.  Use of the HME optimization software can result in 25 to 35 percent fewer miles driven, increased delivery capacity of 10 to 20 percent and a savings of $800 to $1200 per vehicle per month. Key product features include optimized scheduling and route planning, real time delivery reporting and GPS tracking, configurable care plans and an easy-to-use Internet interface. The Caretinuum software tool is scalable, modular, integrated and patient-centric, and it is backed by consulting, education and training, management and technology support services.

“CareCentric and Ankota have a shared desire to deliver high-quality solutions on a single platform,” said Darrell Young, President and CEO of CareCentric. “Both companies are focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home healthcare to help drive success for our customers, so naturally we are excited about the impact this partnership will have for our customers and the industry.”

About Ankota

Ankota, Inc. is the pioneering company in the field of Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) focused on improving the quality and efficiency of home health care. Ankota’s HDM technology organizes healthcare into a “delivery model” to better plan, coordinate and deliver care in the home, with immediate cost savings and productivity improvements for providers. Ankota’s customers include companies involved in providing home health services and private duty care, delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, and infusion and respiratory therapy. Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Chicago. For more information, please visit http://www.ankota.com.

About CareCentric

CareCentric is a healthcare solutions company that has offered industry-leading software and services to post-acute care providers for over 40 years. The state-of-the-art business solutions we offer are designed to facilitate operational, financial and benchmarking aspects of the healthcare industry, from patient assessments and referrals to reimbursement and compliance. These solutions help reduce your operating costs, improve patient outcomes and enhance workflow. Learn more at http://www.carecentric.com.

October 26-29 in Uniondale NY

Baltimore, MD and Uniondale, NY: Ankota will be exhibiting at the New York State Home Care Providers Annual Meeting on October 27^th and 28^th.^.   The conference will be held at the Marriott Long Island Hotel and Conference Center in Uniondale NY.  The theme for the annual conference is “Bridges.”

In addition to exhibiting, Ankota CTO Ken Accardi will deliver a presentation entitled “Technology and Inbound Marketing Booster Shot,” which will teach the participants how to get better results from their web sites and about new technologies they should be aware of.  Ken will join other speaking faculty for the conference including Ellen Bolch, President of The Healthcare Alternative (The THA Group) and author and speaker Chip Madera.  The speaker bios are available at http://www.nyshcp.org/content.aspx?id=5990

“We have our best attendance at our shows on Long Island” explained Phyllis Wang, president of the New York State Home Care Providers “We’re excited to have Ankota returning to the conference as an associate member and excited to welcome Ken Accardi as a speaker.”   See Video Highlights of last year’s HCP meeting below.

NYSHCP members are primarily comprised of non-medical home care providers who assist clients with activities of daily living (ADLs) and provide paraprofessional support to certified nursing services.  Ankota provides a comprehensive management system for these organizations, that offers the following features and benefits:

• Web-based scheduling that matches workers, schedules, and skills to patient/client needs
• Advanced constraint checking (for example to make sure that the visit is in the Medicaid approved window)
• Care plan checklists for each patient or client
• FamilyConnect so that the agencies can provide better communications to the loved ones of the people that they care for
• Real time tracking of workers via telephony and/or smart phones
• Billing and Payroll calculation

You can learn more about Ankota at www.ankota.com or by calling 800.909.9866.

About Ankota

Ankota is a leading service provider of innovative, technology-based software for home care management.  The company is a pioneer of next generation SaaS solutions for Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM), Private Duty, Durable Medical Equipment (DME), Physical Therapy and Home Infusion markets.  Ankota is committed to improving the quality and efficiency of health care outside the hospital setting.

Ankota's suite of solutions includes: "delivery model" optimization - automating complex scheduling requirements; telephony and web-based tracking of patient visits and health status; paperless trails for supervision and audits; billing systems integration; and accurate, real-time reporting.  Ankota's Family Connect, a secure web-based tool, ensures patient families are always one click away from knowing their relative's health and well-being. 

Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. For more information please go to http://www.ankota.com/.

September 15-16 in Ellicott City MD

Baltimore, MD: Ankota will be exhibiting at the Maryland National Capital Homecare Association (MNCHA) Annual Meeting on September 15^th and 16^th.   The conference will be held at The Hotel at Turf Valley in Ellicott City MD.  The theme for the annual conference is “Planning our Bright Future”

In addition to exhibiting, Ankota CTO Ken Accardi will deliver a presentation entitled “Technology and Inbound Marketing Booster Shot,” which will teach the participants how to get better results from their web sites and about new technologies they should be aware of.  Ken will join other speaking faculty for the conference including Bill Dombi from the National Association of Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) and The Honorable John M. Colmers, secretary for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygeine.

“Although Ankota has a national focus, MNCHA is our hometown show,” explained Ankota CEO Will Hicklen.  “We’re also excited that [Ankota CTO] Ken Accardi will be presenting.  He’s so good at making technology simple to understand.” 

MNCHA’s members include home nursing companies, private duty care companies and suppliers of home medical equipment (HME).  In this tough economic year, Ankota is able to offer solutions that improves the efficiency of each of these business lines, as follows:

• For HME Delivery, Ankota offers planning and route optimization software that reduces planning time, miles drive, fuel consumption and paperwork, ultimately enabling an organization to take on more customers with the same staff.
• For Private Care, Ankota offers a comprehensive business management suite, all running on the web, the enables planning, real-time care-giver tracking with telephony, and billing.
• For specialty nursing and home physical therapy, Ankota coordinates care delivery across disciplines and records clinical documentation on tablet computers.
• Ankota also offers FamilyConnect to help keep family members apprised of their loved ones care.

You can learn more about Ankota at www.ankota.com or by calling 800.909.9866.

About Ankota

Ankota is a leading service provider of innovative, technology-based software for home care management.  The company is a pioneer of next generation SaaS solutions for Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM), Private Duty, Durable Medical Equipment (DME), Physical Therapy and Home Infusion markets.  Ankota is committed to improving the quality and efficiency of health care outside the hospital setting.

Ankota's suite of solutions includes: "delivery model" optimization - automating complex scheduling requirements; telephony and web-based tracking of patient visits and health status; paperless trails for supervision and audits; billing systems integration; and accurate, real-time reporting.  Ankota's Family Connect, a secure web-based tool, ensures patient families are always one click away from knowing their relative's health and well-being. 

Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. For more information please go to http://www.ankota.com/.

November 15^th – 18th in Atlanta GA

Baltimore, MD: Ankota looks forward to exhibiting at the MedTrade Conference and Expo from November 15^th – 18^th.  The conference will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

MedTrade prides itself on “Connecting the HME Industry.”  Their conference, entitled THE NATIONAL HOME HEALTH CARE EXPOSITION ^TM continues to be the leader in serving the home health care marketplace by providing a forum to bring buyers and sellers together while offering educational development programs.

“Ankota’s solution is exactly what the HME industry needs at this time,” explained Ankota CEO Will Hicklen.  “Ankota offsets the extreme reimbursement pressure DME companies are facing by giving them the tools to increase their delivery capacity without increasing cost.”  Ankota’s software solution achieves this by providing delivery schedule optimization that saves the agency money in five different ways:

• Assignments and routes are automatically calculated, saving each driver 45 minutes or more per day
• Delivery routes are optimized, reducing driving miles, driving time, fuel costs and vehicle costs
• Real-time changes to schedules can be accommodates with a drag-and-drop interface and simple tools to deal with emergency deliveries throughout the day.
• Status is tracked in real-time, allowing back office workers to manage by exception rather than needing to follow-up on each delivery.  Ultimately this enables each back office worker to manage more field resources and can enable the agency to increase territories or product lines
• The hosted solution with a growing number of automated integrations to inventory and billing systems eliminates the need for ongoing IT staff support

You can download an Ankota DME product brochure here.

Please visit Ankota at booth 230.

About MedTrade

Medtrade and Medtrade Spring are produced by Nielsen Business Media, a part of the Nielsen Company.  Nielsen Business Media is a full service event management company that professionally operates, arranges, organizes and sponsors trade shows, expositions, conferences, conventions and meetings for associations, corporations and government entities. Nielsen is also one of the world's largest leading publishing and information companies and has leading marketing positions in consumer magazines, directories and information services, business information as well as educational publishing.

About Ankota

Ankota is a leading service provider of innovative, technology-based software for home care management.  The company is a pioneer of next generation SaaS solutions for Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM), Private Duty, Durable Medical Equipment (DME), Physical Therapy and Home Infusion markets.  Ankota is committed to improving the quality and efficiency of health care outside the hospital setting.

Ankota's suite of solutions includes: "delivery model" optimization - automating complex scheduling requirements; telephony and web-based tracking of patient visits and health status; paperless trails for supervision and audits; billing systems integration; and accurate, real-time reporting.  Ankota's Family Connect, a secure web-based tool, ensures patient families are always one click away from knowing their relative's health and well-being. 

Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. For more information please go to http://www.ankota.com/.

Combining Peer Support with Disease Management to Improve Drug Addiction Recovery Outcomes

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (August 9, 2010) -  Ankota, Inc., a Healthcare SaaS company, submitted an application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant.  The SBIR program was created, in the words of program founder Roland Tibbets: "to provide funding for some of the best early-stage innovation ideas -- ideas that, however promising, are still too high risk for private investors, including venture capital firms." For the purposes of the SBIR program, the term "small business" is defined as a for-profit business with fewer than 500 employees, owned by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States of America.

Ankota's grant application is entitled "Improving Peer Based Addiction Recovery Management through Information Technology." The premise of the research is that recovery from addiction is a long process that requires more than just addition recovery.  It also requires treatment of medical needs, and social needs to drive the lifestyle and behavior change that will ultimately lead to full recovery.  The approach combines peer support (such as  Narcotics Anonymous [NA]) and disease management techniques (used for acute issue recovery and chronic disease care).  This provides a framework for complete addiction recovery, but since it can take three to five years, automation is critical to keep things on track.

Collaborating with Ankota are the following:

• Dr. J. Hunter Young, MD - Johns Hopkins
• Dr. Maxine Stitzer - Johns Hopkins
• The Center for Health Information and Decision Support (CHIDS) at the University of Maryland

Ankota's mission is to improve the quality and efficiency of care delivery outside of the hospital.  Ankota's commercial products are designed for home care agencies (private duty, home health, home physical therapy, home respiratory therapy, home infusion therapy, respiratory therapy, and medical equipment deliver including DME/HME).  This research extends home care to the new discipline of peer-based addiction recovery.

"It's exciting to apply our technology to leading edge medical research," explained Ankota Chief Technology Officer Ken Accardi.  "Plus we're confident that these models of care management will become both critical and prevalent when healthcare reform increases care coverage through Medicaid starting in 2014."

About Ankota:  Ankota is a leading service provider of innovative, technology-based software for home care management.  The company is a pioneer of next generation SaaS solutions for Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM), Private Duty, Durable Medical Equipment (DME), and Home Infusion markets.  Ankota is committed to improving the quality and efficiency of health care outside the hospital setting.

Ankota's suite of solutions includes: "delivery model" optimization - automating complex scheduling requirements; telephony and web-based tracking of patient visits and health status; paperless trails for supervision and audits; billing systems integration; and accurate, real-time reporting.  Ankota's Family Connect, a secure web-based tool, ensures patient families are always one click away from knowing their relative's health and well-being. 

Founded in 2008, Ankota, Inc. is based in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Minneapolis. For more information please go to http://www.ankota.com/.