Not unlike the rise of digital health, the market for healthcare services is growing rapidly in line with consumer expectations for greater access, lower costs, and an improved overall patient experience. Recognizing a unique opportunity, the founders of Groups—Recover Together seized on the trend to
transform the conventional model for treating opioid addiction, pairing medication with weekly therapy sessions in an affordable package. Now operating in over 60 locations across 10 states, Groups initially engaged Danforth Advisors in the company’s early stages to bring structure and clarity to its finance function and, ultimately, establish the foundation for its aggressive growth plans.
Getting Started
Led by visionary founders and a strong clinical team, Groups had not yet fully built out its leadership team on the finance side. “There was a long-term plan to hire a CFO, but in the early stages it made sense to ‘get the house in order’ to support the business in a capital-efficient way, and Danforth was able to expertly fill this role,” said Steve Kraus, a member of the company’s board of directors and investor with Bessemer Ventures.
Danforth’s Daniel Geffken was brought on board as interim CFO to help the company secure a $5M venture debt line. The initial phase of this project included development of projections and establishing financial reporting processes to satisfy the lenders. Additionally,
while the company did have a controller and director of revenue cycle in place, Danforth was able to provide technical accounting and financial reporting resources to support the existing team as well as the management team.
Planning for Growth
Working with Danforth afforded Groups the flexibility to add or change resources as needed to manage the finance function, both strategically and operationally. The firm’s responsibilities included interfacing with Groups’ CEO, president and board of directors, overseeing technical accounting and financial reporting, and
analyzing the company’s revenue cycle processes. This included advisory on the revenue recognition and reporting implications of the company’s revenue cycle as its participation in insurance and Medicaid programs increased.
"As the relationship evolved, we got much more involved in financial reporting and completing financial analysis to get the company ‘audit ready’ for 2017,” says Daniel.“The company was growing rapidly and needed systems in place to catch up with that growth. We spent significant time creating financial processes to integrate their revenue cycle information into their financial reporting process.”
Foundation in Place
As planned, following the nine-month engagement with Danforth, Groups hired its first CFO – Josh Willeford – in July 2018.
“Our goal from the start was to build a foundation within the finance function and, ultimately, transition the finance function over to a permanent, full time CFO, and we’ve been able to do that successfully with Josh and his team,” said Daniel.
“Dan and the entire Danforth team did a wonderful job laying the groundwork for the company’s finance, accounting, and revenue cycle functions. They made my transition remarkably smooth, and we’re confident that the processes put in place by the Danforth team will see us through our next phase of growth,” said Josh. “They have been true partners, providing valuable feedback that we’ll be able to apply to improve our business operations moving forward.”
