NASCEND, (https://nascend.com/ ), an innovative clinical solution, education, and certification company enhanced by technology, has launched a StartEngine campaign, (https://www.startengine.com/offering/nascend ), to further its mission to transform the quality of care and medical outcomes of opioid-exposed infants (OEI) and their families.
"Changing lives is a pretty incredible ROI" is one of the intriguing tag lines for NASCEND's investment campaign, which aims to secure funds to advance product development, support infrastructure expansion, and enable long-term strategic growth.
Founded by neonatologists, and based in Louisville, KY, NASCEND is a public benefit corporation, a Certified B-Corporation, and Canopy Certified, featuring a team of highly experienced professionals dedicated to changing the experience of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
As one of the most significant medical and social problems in the U.S., the numbers on NAS are sobering with 1 infant born every 24 minutes diagnosed with NAS. 1 According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 7% of pregnant women report prescription opiate use with 1 in 5 reporting opioid misuse during pregnancy.
The new Continuum of Care developed by NASCEND for OEI's covers the entire spectrum from pregnancy to pediatrics. Already impacting the lives of more than 1.6 million infants and their families across 38 states through comprehensive training programs of thousands of healthcare providers, NASCEND looks to scale its reach and effect substantial change on a national level.
"Investment opportunities rarely provide this kind of reward. Together, we can improve the lives of generations of infants and address a major societal and healthcare problem," said Dawn Forbes, MD, founder and CEO of NASCEND. "NASCEND is looking for healthcare partners including hospitals, managed care organizations (Medicaid), and healthcare organizations as we are now poised to validate, optimize, and scale our products for large-scale national distribution."
Key areas where new investment will enable NASCEND's efforts include:
- Completing and publishing their national, multisite AssessPro validation clinical trial.
- Launching the next-generation AssessPro app, taking it from iOS to a web-based app for improved access, usability, and scalability, with streamlined integration into EMR (electronic medical record) platforms planned for 2024.
- Launching an all-inclusive product platform that fully integrates training, monitoring, data analytics, and their technology to provide automation, efficiency, agility, and intelligence for all products and processes. Combined with a national database to deliver real-time, centralized trends, data sharing, and accelerated reporting via an intuitive dashboard at a national level.
- Strategic growth with infrastructure expansion to scale training resources and certification capacity.
Dr. Forbes emphasizes the urgency of action in combating the devastating impact of opioids, especially to infants.
"Through innovation, education, certification, and technology we will inspire and equip healthcare communities to follow new paths that decrease the impact of drug use, improve outcomes for families, and restore the potential for every affected child," Dr. Forbes said. "It's all about helping babies and families for us..."
NASCEND's recent milestones and awards include:
- Recognition as a "Top 10 Health Education Services Provider" by Healthcare Business Review. NASCEND was nominated by attendees of the company's training and certification programs and selected from hundreds of candidates. The company consistently receives exceptional evaluations from more than 98% of the attendees of their training events.
- At the 2023 Canopy Annual Good Business Summit, NASCEND accepted the "Top Social Impact Company Award" for its commitment to aligning purpose and value with community impact.
- Launch of the clinical trial for AssessPro, an interactive, point-of-care assessment tool and proprietary treatment algorithm integrated into an intuitive iOS app, designed to standardize care, improve outcomes, and guide informed provider decisions with decreased subjectivity. The trial introduced in April 2023, and monitored by a third-party internal review board, WCG-IRB, is currently enrolling new sites across the nation.
- Ongoing B-Corp recertification, reinforcing NASCEND's unwavering commitment as an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible business. NASCEND looks to continue certification in its 4th year and to improve its B-Impact Assessment score.
- The launch of NASCEND Lullaby, version 2, an interactive music app with enhanced features aimed at engaging parents in the care of their infants, and promoting improved feeding, sleep, and consolability. The app boasts real-time karaoke functionality and guides users to create their own original lullabies.
- NASCEND's 18-month outcomes from its first certified hospital (publication pending), outperformed QI data and yielded better than predicted outcomes. NASCEND's NAS Certification Program (NNCP) with the AssessPro app resulted in a less than 10% need to treat (79% reduction) and an overall length of stay (LOS) for all OEIs of 5.1 hospital days with cost savings greater than $15K per infant. When treatment was needed, the LOS was less than 13 days (37% decrease) with an average of eight days of opiate treatment (50% decrease).
"I believe NASCEND's AssessPro is a remarkable platform that will provide, for the first time, an efficient treatment option for infants with NOW (neonatal opioid withdrawal). We are beyond thrilled to be incorporating AssessPro into our hospital. We are excited to be contributing to NASCEND's mission in developing technology, live training, and family-focused intervention that can change the paradigm of care for NOW," said Dr. Rachel Kerschner, chief of staff at a NASCEND-certified hospital.
The idea for founding NASCEND came out of the experience of Dr. Forbes and her colleagues treating opioid-exposed infants. In 2010, they saw a ten-fold increase in cases, illustrating the shortcomings in care for this population, which included a lack of standardized care guidelines, outdated and ineffective infant assessment tools, poor parental engagement, insufficient nutrition guidelines, and a lack of transparency for families.
After spending an additional three years working within the system and providing education via hundreds of speaking events, Dr. Forbes and several of her colleagues created the vision for NASCEND and launched the company in 2016. NASCEND achieved B-Corp Certification in 2019 and most recently became Canopy Certified in Kentucky in 2022.
"Inspired by purpose and driven by impact, NASCEND is dedicated to business that balances profit with our mission, community, and the planet," explained Dr. Forbes.
She added, "We consistently consider the impact of our decisions on our workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. We are part of a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good."
