Innovative UWM caregiver support system going commercial

TCARE Navigator LLC, a Milwaukee-based start-up company, has completed a license agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation (UWMRF) that will allow the company to commercialize an innovative caregiver support system developed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

(L-R) Norrie Daroga, chief executive officer of TCARE Navigator; Rhonda Montgomery Helen Bader Endowed Chair in Applied Gerontology in UWM’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare and Stan Stojkovic, dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare.(Photo by Peter Jakubowski)

TCARE (Tailored Caregiver Assessment and Referral) is a care-management process that helps family caregivers receive the support they need to help their aging and disabled family members. The system was developed by Rhonda Montgomery, Helen Bader Endowed Chair in Applied Gerontology in UWM’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. Montgomery led the TCARE team that was the recipient of the 2010 Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award, the nation’s highest honor given in the caregiving field.

The TCARE System has been used by a number of state agencies and other organizations for several years. TCARE Navigator will bring this system to a broader audience by promoting it to private insurers, accountable care organizations, self-insured employers and U.S. government agencies.

In December 2011, UWMRF completed a license agreement with CareConscious, a North Carolina-based start-up company. TCARE Navigator now continues that partnership, which integrates the TCARE system with the CareConscious Web-based platform for family caregivers.

“TCARE is expected to offer significant healthcare cost savings associated with delaying placement of the patient in institutionalized care, as well as avoiding future healthcare costs to the caregiver,” said Norrie Daroga, chief executive officer of TCARE Navigator. “The system will deliver high value to our clients by easing the burdens experienced by caregivers and ultimately lowering healthcare costs.”

“I’ve spent 25 years developing and validating this system, and I want to see it help as many people as possible,” said Montgomery, who also is a co-founder of the company. “TCARE Navigator will make that possible.”

Stan Stojkovic, dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, added, “Dr. Montgomery has been an innovator in piloting the system throughout the country. This groundwork will allow TCARE Navigator to quickly show value in the market.”

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