Chad Trull knew what the hospice industry needed. He once owned a hospice company and a durable medical equipment (DME) company. Back in those days, hospices were forced to order DME with a fax machine and phone calls, a slow and inefficient process.

From his insider view of running a hospice company, Trull founded HospiceLink in 2012 to enhance patients’ experience while in hospice care. The goal is to make them feel as comfortable as possible through a process that is more efficient and able to get equipment to them faster. Trull and his team built software that consolidates hospice clinical, financial and operational information to a single user interface.

“I saw a need to streamline the process to become more efficient,” he said.

Since then, 1.2 million hospice patients have been served by HospiceLink’s technology, which connects hospice companies with DME providers in all 50 states. DME includes everything from blood sugar monitors to hospital beds to walkers. The app can be used on phones or other devices and is used for ordering, billing and reporting.

HospiceLink’s success is built on its ability to be a collaborative place to work, Trull said.

“Teams are working shoulder to shoulder, no matter what division [they work in],” he said. “Everyone is working together to solve problems.”

The Birmingham Business Alliance’s Vice President of Innovation and Technology Jon Nugent said HospiceLink represents the superior quality of technology companies that are based in Birmingham.

“HospiceLink is a great example of the type of innovative companies growing here in Birmingham,” Nugent said. “Their unique approach and dedication to advancing their product offerings continues to make HospiceLink a leader in their industry and the type of company that the BBA is always pleased to support.”

Success for the company lies in retaining its customers and keeping an eye on profits, Trull said. The company’s success will continue through evolving with the ever-changing health care industry, including expanding into new markets like home health care.

“As health care continues to change and evolve I anticipate us working very closely with partners, creating more solutions with technology outside of our core market and becoming focused on home care,” Trull said.

In 2017, the company added 15 jobs, and, so far in 2018, has already added 40, bringing its total local employee count to 420. This expansion landed the company on the Birmingham Business Alliance’s New and Expanding Industry List.

“We have pretty aggressive plans for 2018,” Trull said. “We’ve started ramping up and hiring a little faster. We have a laser focus on our core market and other markets as well. We hope to expand into other markets and are hiring and growing through that process.”