CareKit

What CareKit does

CareKit, legally Communication Science, Inc., is a privately held U.S. patient education company founded in 1989 by Dr. Sylvia Aruffo in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The company develops and sells condition-specific patient self-care kits — physical bundles containing curriculum, reference tools, and medical devices — designed to improve post-discharge compliance and reduce hospital readmissions across eight condition categories: Cardiac, Rehab, Post-Surgical, Wellness, Respiratory, Hospice, Co-Morbid, and Diabetes. Its core differentiator is the proprietary "Six Standards of Healthcare Communication" methodology, grounded in Dr. Aruffo's Northwestern University PhD in linguistic pragmatics, which translates medical instructions into patient-friendly language structured to drive behavior change rather than mere information transfer.

The company operates a dual product portfolio. The flagship physical Care Kits are sold on a one-time unit basis to hospitals, health plans, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and ACOs, with kits such as the Heart Failure Care Kit claiming up to 73-74% reductions in readmissions across 14 clinical studies. The newer CareKitOnline™ product is a recurring digital subscription that gives providers access to 100+ Self-Care Guides that can be printed or emailed to patients, extending the same evidence-based methodology into a scalable SaaS-like format. The company has documented outcomes including $2.2 million in annual savings at St. Joseph Medical Center.

CareKit generates revenue through two streams: (1) one-time unit sales of physical Care Kits, customized per condition and quoted on a per-kit basis, and (2) recurring e-subscription revenue from CareKitOnline. Its go-to-market is B2B sales-led, with direct demos, a referral program ($250 credit per successful referral), partner distribution through home health agencies, and a self-serve digital portal for CareKitOnline subscribers. The company has 11-50 employees, serves only the United States, is founder-controlled with no disclosed external institutional investment, and has been continuously operating for over 35 years.

Name

CareKit

Legal name

Communication Science, Inc.

Website

https://carekit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CareKit (Communication Science, Inc.) is a U.S. patient education company selling condition-specific physical self-care kits and a CareKitOnline digital subscription of 100+ guides to hospitals, health plans, home health agencies, and skilled nursing facilities to reduce readmissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patient Education Kits

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Home Health Care Services (62161)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

Chronic Condition Lifestyle Coaching (Non-Clinical) (HSADAGAH)

Keywords

• Patient education kits
• Self-care guides
• Discharge planning tools
• Readmission reduction programs
• Healthcare communication

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo Grove

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Physical Care Kit Sales: Sale of physical patient education kits containing curriculum, tools, and medical devices for specific conditions such as heart failure, COPD, post-surgical care, diabetes, and rehabilitation. Kits are sold to hospitals, health plans, home health agencies, and skilled nursing facilities.
2. CareKitOnline Subscription: Low-cost e-subscription model providing healthcare providers access to over 100+ Self-Care Guides. Providers can click and access guides, then print or email to patients. Offers a scalable digital alternative to physical kits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CareKit (Communication Science, Inc.) sells physical patient education Care Kits containing curriculum, reference tools, and medical devices for condition-specific home self-care across cardiac, rehab, post-surgical, wellness, respiratory, hospice, comorbid, and diabetes categories. It also operates CareKitOnline™, a low-cost e-subscription digital platform providing access to over 100 Self-Care Guides that providers can print or email to patients.

Product overview

CareKit is a patient education company (Communication Science, Inc.) offering a dual product portfolio: physical Care Kits containing educational materials, tools, and medical devices for home self-care, and CareKitOnline™ - a digital e-subscription platform providing access to 100+ Self-Care Guides. Physical Care Kits span eight condition categories (Cardiac, Rehab, Post-Surgical, Wellness, Respiratory, Hospice, Co-Morbid, Diabetes) with condition-specific tools and step-by-step instructions. CareKitOnline™ delivers the same evidence-based patient education in digital format. Both offerings are clinically proven to reduce hospital readmissions by up to 74% according to fourteen tests at major medical institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Care Kits (Physical Products) Physical patient education kits containing curriculum, tools, and medical devices for self-care at home. Kits include step-by-step instructions, reference tools, and medical devices organized into condition-specific categories (Cardiac, Rehab, Post-Surgical, Wellness, Respiratory, Hospice, Co-Morbid, Diabetes). Sold to hospitals, health plans, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and ACOs.
• CareKitOnline™ Low-cost e-subscription digital platform providing healthcare providers access to over 100+ Self-Care Guides that can be printed or emailed to patients. Delivers the same proven patient education as physical Care Kits in digital format.
• Heart Failure Care Kit Best-selling care kit using the 'tired workhorse' metaphor with three easy-to-remember goals to organize self-care tasks. Includes log book, 28-dose pill organizer, troubleshooting magnet board, digital scale, optional blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter. Clinically proven to reduce readmissions by up to 73%.
• Diabetic Foot Care and Testing Kit (Toe the Line) Diabetic foot care simplified for home use. Includes teaching materials and mirror to ensure entire foot examination for wounds. Available in Spanish. Product code #35150.
• Heart Failure, Diabetes, Blood Pressure Care Kit Integrates instructions and tools for patients with multiple conditions (heart failure, diabetes, blood pressure). Sorts out conflicts between conditions and prevents confusing contradictory advice. Product code #45940.
• Coronary Artery, Diabetes, Blood Pressure Care Kit Manages diabetes with blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Integrates instructions for patients with multiple comorbidities. Product code #44530.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Care Kit Comprehensive patient education kit for COVID-19 recovery at home. Contains step-by-step care plan (stay clear, stay clean, stay strong), temperature record log, hand washing charts, digital thermometer, masks, pulse oximeter, and disinfectant surface cleaner. Helps patients avoid hospitalization and prevents virus spread.
• Self-Care Guides (CareKitOnline™ Library) Extensive library of over 100+ self-care guides covering conditions including Heart Failure, Blood Pressure Control, Cholesterol, AFib, Diabetes, Foot Care, COPD, Asthma, Pneumonia, Stroke, Depression, Dementia, Cancer, Ostomy Care, Wound Care, and more. Available via CareKitOnline™ subscription for printing or emailing to patients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 74% reduction in hospital readmissions for patients using Care Kits
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Leading Healthcare OrganizationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCareKit partners with leading healthcare organizations including hospitals, health plans, home health agencies, and skilled nursing facilities. These partners distribute Care Kits to patients to improve outcomes, lower costs, and enhance patient experience.
• Family Home Health Services of Bradenton, FLcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFamily Home Health Services distributes Care Kits including the Coronavirus Care Kit to its patients to aid home-based recovery and help patients stay safe. The company reports that Care Kits help clinicians engage more effectively with patients.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• SeamlessMD: Digital care journey platform for surgery, oncology, and chronic disease with EHR-integrated education and remote monitoring; overlaps with CareKit's post-surgical and chronic disease self-care bundles.
• Vivify Health: Remote patient monitoring and care transition platform bundling connected devices and patient engagement content — emerging player competing for similar discharge and chronic-condition use cases addressed by CareKit's heart failure and comorbid kits.
• CipherHealth: Patient engagement and outreach platform with post-discharge follow-up, education, and readmission reduction programs — addressing the same hospital discharge use case that anchors CareKit's kit sales.
• Force Therapeutics: Digital care platform for musculoskeletal and post-surgical recovery providing video-based rehab and education — comparable to CareKit's Rehab and Post-Surgical care kits but delivered via a digital-first model.

Broad incumbents

• GetWellNetwork: Interactive patient engagement platform deployed at the bedside and at home across 200+ health systems; overlaps with CareKit's discharge and care transition use cases, though anchored in interactive technology vs. physical kits.
• Emmi Solutions (Wolters Kluwer Health Language): Wolters Kluwer's patient engagement platform delivers multimedia education, procedure prep, and care reminders inside health systems; competes with CareKitOnline at the digital patient engagement layer with broader portfolio scale.
• Elsevier Patient Engagement (ExitCare): Elsevier's patient education suite (formerly ExitCare) provides condition-specific, evidence-based education integrated into EHR workflows — a large, enterprise-scale alternative to CareKit's print and digital guides.

Direct peers

• Krames (Staywell): Provider of patient education materials, health engagement content, and care transitions solutions to health systems and payers; overlaps directly with CareKit's print/email self-care guides and condition-specific education offerings.
• Healthwise: A leading nonprofit provider of evidence-based patient education content and decision aids used by hospitals, health plans, and care providers — directly comparable to CareKitOnline's library of self-care guides for chronic and acute conditions.

Others

• WiserTogether: Treatment decision-support and care guidance platform; thematically adjacent as a patient education and shared-decision-making company, but primarily focused on treatment choice vs. self-care adherence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/carekit
• Facebookfacebook.com/carekit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/communication-science-inc-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CareKit