Homecare Hub Awarded NIH SBIR Grant for Complex Hospital Discharges

The grant will support a multi-state study evaluating Homecare Hub's tech-enabled small care home model as an alternative to institutional long-term care.

Mar. 16, 2026 at 6:11pm

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Homecare Hub, a tech-enabled services platform for high-quality, small care home-based healthcare delivery, has received a Phase 2 SBIR research award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support a project titled "Scaling a network of small community-based care homes as high-value alternatives to institutional care". The grant will fund a multi-state national study evaluating healthcare utilization and clinical outcomes of Homecare Hub's model as an alternative to traditional institutional long-term care, as well as its impact on hospital throughput for health systems that utilize the model.

Why it matters

This research is critical as healthcare systems struggle to discharge a growing population of medically complex adults who do not fit well into traditional institutional settings. Homecare Hub's tech-enabled small care home model aims to provide a high-value alternative to institutional long-term care by integrating small, shared living care homes, clinical oversight, and data-driven coordination to better align care with an individual's personalized needs.

The details

The NIH-funded research will be conducted in collaboration with experts from Harvard Medical School and will involve recruiting 10 health systems across the country to track outcomes data. Homecare Hub's platform leverages technology to enable and scale small, community-based residential care homes to provide personalized care for adults with complex health needs, with a focus on quality of life, clinical safety, and improved healthcare utilization.

  • Homecare Hub received the Phase 2 SBIR grant from the NIH on March 16, 2026.
  • The multi-state national study funded by the grant will begin in the coming months.

The players

Homecare Hub

An innovative tech-enabled services platform advancing high-quality, small care home-based healthcare delivery for medically complex adults.

Dr. Vipan Nikore

An internal medicine hospitalist physician and CEO of Homecare Hub.

David Grabowski, Ph.D.

Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and a nationally recognized expert in long-term care, post-acute care, and health policy for aging populations.

Chelsey Wilks, Ph.D.

A Harvard-trained data scientist with experience at Meta and various early-stage health tech companies, who has joined the research team.

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What they’re saying

“Healthcare systems are struggling to discharge a growing population of medically complex adults who do not fit well into traditional institutional settings. This is one of the most significant problems in the country.”

— Dr. Vipan Nikore, Internal medicine hospitalist physician and CEO of Homecare Hub (PR Newswire)

“For too long, our long-term care system has relied on large, institutional settings that often fail to meet the personal needs of residents. My prior research has shown the value of smaller, resident-centered models that prioritize quality of life alongside clinical safety. I am excited to work with Homecare Hub on this research to test whether community-based, tech-enabled care offers a high-value, scalable alternative to traditional nursing homes.”

— David Grabowski, Ph.D., Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School (PR Newswire)

What’s next

Homecare Hub has begun recruiting 10 health systems across the country to participate in the NIH-funded research study, which will track outcomes data and evaluate the impact of the company's tech-enabled small care home model.

The takeaway

This research project represents an important step in exploring innovative, community-based care models that can provide high-quality, personalized alternatives to traditional institutional long-term care, potentially improving outcomes and quality of life for medically complex adults while also addressing the challenges faced by healthcare systems in discharging these patients.