Through April 1, athenahealth's More Disruption Please program is seeking submissions for cloud-based solutions to industry pain points from healthcare entrepreneurs as part of its Innovation Challenge.
"The entrepreneurs that are tackling the inpatient space already are, for the most part, operating on its fringes," wrote athenahealth CEO and founder Jonathan Bush in a blog post accompanying the announcement. "I don't blame them. The pain of selling into a large health system can take years off your life. Hospital workflows are complex, inconsistent and puzzling even to their own doctors. But if we want to extend athenahealth's health information backbone across the continuum of care, we need help."
In the post, Mr. Bush goes on to point out a handful of core cloud-based arenas sorely in need of new ideas and a jump start. If companies like athenahealth are going to disrupt the status quo, they need the help of passionate innovators with entrepreneurial spirit, he wrote.
Industry experts will evaluate the submissions and announce winners on April 12. Winners will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a round-trip flight to Boston to sit down with athenahealth executives for a potential partnership opportunity with the MDP program. Runner-ups and honorable mentions will also receive cash prizes.