Four health systems and one digital health company have opened or announced plans to establish new centers focused on healthcare innovation in the past five weeks.

UC San Diego Health recently established an innovation center to focus on improving virtual visit experiences for patients and integrating remote monitoring technologies within treatment plans, among other initiatives. 

Avia, a Chicago-based digital health network for healthcare organizations, has welcomed six new health system members, including MedStar Health and Multicare. 

Washington, D.C.-based Children's National Hospital and Cerner unveiled the five winners of their first annual Bear Institute Pediatric Accelerator Challenge for Kids, the organizations recently announced. 

IBM launched the IBM Quantum Network in 2017 with 12 organizations; now, its program has grown to more than 150 Fortune 500 companies. One of those companies is insurance giant Anthem, according to an Aug. 31 report by TechRepublic.

New Orleans-based Ochsner Health and its innovation lab, innovationOchsner, have partnered with a digital health platform for older adults aimed at improving health outcomes and reducing falls.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital physician assistant Hayley Arcenaux and two others participating in the first all-civilian space mission to orbit Earth will be helping with research on how space affects the human body. 

Kaia Health, a New York City-based startup developing smartphone-based technology for chronic condition management, recently added five leaders, most of whom are healthcare veterans, to its senior team.

Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health deployed Google's Workspace platform to improve patient and employee collaborations across its 140 hospitals, the health system announced Sept. 1. 

From their thoughts on how to choose which digital health startups to invest in to how healthcare innovation has been crucial to fighting the pandemic, here are six quotes about the role of innovation in healthcare that hospital executives shared with Becker's Hospital Review in August:

Here are 10 recent health IT vendor contracts and go-lives accelerating digital transformation efforts at healthcare organizations. 

Eight early-stage companies developing healthcare innovations to improve clinical technology and patient experience have advanced to the final stage of the Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge, the company announced Aug. 30. 

California, New York, Louisiana and a slew of other states are deploying or considering rolling out digital vaccination passports as the U.S. grapples with an increase in fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and the delta variant surge, Politico reported Aug. 30. 

Seven recent partnerships between healthcare organizations and Big Tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft: 

Charlotte, N.C.-based Levine Children's Hospital has become the first U.S. hospital to use Gita robots to transport up to 40 pounds of cargo within hospital walls and enable contactless delivery, according to an Aug. 25 Charlotte Business Journal report.

Olive on Aug. 26 launched Olive Ventures, an in-house studio seeking to create companies and products for the healthcare industry.

Digital health startups Olive, DispatchHealth and Monogram Health are among the most funded tech startups in the country, according to a report released Aug. 24 by CB Insights. 

Mental health and meditation app Headspace announced plans Aug. 25 to merge with on-demand digital mental health service Ginger. 

Calibrate, a telemedicine platform for metabolic health, recently raised $100 million in a Series B funding round, according to an Aug. 25 news release. 

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health is planning its innovation district in Charlotte, N.C., where it will build a four-year medical school, innovation and research hub, according to an Aug. 24 Charlotte Business Journal report.