Small Business

Keeping patients out of the hospital after they're released is a top priority for hospitals today. Just ask Win Burke, CEO of iGetBetter Inc., an early-stage company that provides a cloud-based application to manage patients' care after they're discharged from the hospital. “Medicare doesn't want to pay the hospital if the patient is readmitted within 30 days, so that's going to be on the hospital's nickel,” said Burke, referring to Medicare's new reimbursement policy that's designed to drive down patient readmissions.

The Internet has brought great things: cute cat videos, auto-tuned memes, and online survey tools. While the first two in that brief list aren't going to help your business in any way, the third one can be a real asset.

After two consecutive months of strong optimism among small business owners, January saw a drop amid concerns about short-term business conditions, according to a key small-business association.

The head of Rotmans Furniture in Worcester has launched a Boston-based distribution company that aims to sell eco-friendly materials and components for the home furnishings, apparel and other markets.

Town officials are intrigued by a proposal to expand Framingham's only brewery, Jack's Abby Brewing, inside a building formerly occupied Dennison Manufacturing Co., the paper products manufacturer that was once the town's economic engine. Jack Hendler, who owns and operates the Morton Street brewery with his brothers, said Jack's Abby draws customers from near and far, and has outgrown its current space of about 17,000 square feet. With 25,000 visitors last year, the Hendlers are hoping to expand production, tastings and tours, and add a restaurant and taproom in a 67,000-square-foot space in one of two buildings at 100 Clinton St., part of Dennison's former complex that was active from 1897 until it merged with Avery Corp. in 1990 to become Avery Dennison.

Ashland-based NuVascular Technologies Inc. said it has obtained exclusive licensing rights to commercialize a stem cell device that allows the heart to repair itself and improve its functions in as little as two to four weeks.

Small businesses across the country posted employment gains in December despite experiencing a recovery that's slower than the rest of the economy, according to research by the software manufacturer Intuit.

Web and graphic design services provider Agape Creative of Leominster has been acquired by InConcert Web Solutions of Gardner, InConcert announced today. Financial terms were not disclosed.

A few years ago, Jennifer Davagian Ensign was a master seamstress, running a custom interior design business in Sudbury. Today, she's the CEO of a Concord-based medical device company that holds patents in the U.S. and abroad, with the latest patent award coming from the Japanese Patent Office. She's not just running the company. She designed the chief product, Sephure. It's a suppository applicator for people with digestive conditions and other illness, from migraine headaches to malaria, and one she designed in her own kitchen after teaching herself the basics of silicon molding.

More owners of small businesses plan to boost capital spending amid a jump in sales, according to a key small-business association.