Volusia County’s First Comprehensive Health Care Guide
New Smyrna Beach — Lifelong resident and veteran health care provider Desiree Vilanova announced that her CountyHealthcareGuide.com will be available in a 90+ page printed directory form in January. The Free publication will be available to the public and distributed to all hospitals, urgent care and rehab centers, nursing homes, homecare agencies and physicians offices.
“Simplifying healthcare is the aim of County Health Care Guide.Com, says Vilanova whose early-stage company is a client of the Volusia-UCF Business Incubator in Daytona Beach. “The site is a compilation of all healthcare entities and services within the borders of Volusia County.”
The upcoming printed directory can be used in conjunction with the County Health Care Guide.com website. It will be a quick reference for hospital discharge planners as well as all others who forward on referrals in health care.
“We decided this printed directory was the most efficient way to get folks familiarized with the web site and all it offers,” she said.
Every vendor in the publication, like on the website, is listed for free with name, address and phone number. “It’s basically a mini website for each vendor – they have their own login, enabling them to easily manage it themselves.”
Special features of County Health Care Guide.com website that benefit the lay person include searching for a provider by distance, obtaining information about forms of payment and various insurances accepted as well as downloading medical, healthcare and government forms like V.A., Medicaid, Votran, 5 Wishes, 1823, 3008, to name a few.
“The County Health Care Guide.com website was designed specifically as a time-saving, effective and user-friendly source for both the healthcare provider and the citizen of Volusia County. “To our knowledge, no where in the country has this been done before with as much health care category inclusion and data,” she said.
Melissa Cole, senior hospice specialist at Kindred at Home Hospice in Daytona Beach said she and her staff have been using the web site. “CountyHealthcareGuide is an excellent referral source for the community as well as health care providers, designed and maintained by a trusted and compassionate organization,” she said, adding, “The website is simple to navigate and gives detailed and precise listings of anything healthcare. I highly recommend it or the printed version to the entire community for any health care needs and questions.”
Vilanova said the website with the boost of the printed directory is going to be a tremendous referral and resource tool for both the health care professional and the public at large.
Next on the horizon for CountyHealthCare.com is an interactive spreadsheet for hospital discharge planners to easily steer patients, especially senior patients, to the right care after hospitalization.
Vilanova has already approached local hospitals with the service aimed at curbing the Medicare dilemma of widespread readmissions. “I believe we have come up with a valuable tool that will help solve a current problem, and we are excited about the future,” she said.
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For more information, contact
Desiree Vilanova, founder / president, CountyHealthCare.com 386-689-0907 Desiree32169@yahoo.com
Connie Bernal, Associate Director, Volusia-UCF Business Incubation Program, 386-872-3101 connie.bernal@ucf.edu
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications Inc. 407-644-4142 Lvershelco@aol.com
About Desiree Vilanova
She is owner of Tiffany On The River, assisted living on Riverside Drive, and also co-owner of Althafer Senior Placement Services and CountyHealthcareGuide.com, which she runs with her brother Brett Althafer. Vilanova has a 24-year career in health care. She and her brother are lifelong residents of New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County. They both have spent much of their lives in health care for the elderly and the public in general.
About the UCF Business Incubation Program
The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has helped over 390 local startup companies reach their potential faster by providing vital business development resources.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Apopka, Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2014/15 and 2015/16 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 4,710 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned $7.41 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.
