Hospitals and health systems are investing in innovation centers, artificial intelligence, technology startups, telemedicine and hospitals of the future.
Here are 11 hospitals, health systems and healthcare providers that are spending on new companies, initiatives and institutes focused on technology and healthcare innovation over the past six months.
NewYork-Presbyterian in New York City launched the Hauser Institute for Health Innovation after receiving more than $50 million since 2011 from philanthropists Rita Hauser and Gustave Hauser to improve the health system's telemedicine programs.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has become a founding sponsor of Bioscience Los Angeles County, a nonprofit organization supporting life sciences innovation among research hospitals, academic institutions and public institutions.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health, Cleveland Clinic and the Long Beach, Calif.-based MemorialCare Fund invested $3 million in Xealth, Seattle-based digital health startup, to help the company close a $14 million Series A financing round. UPMC, Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin are also investors in the company.
OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Ill., launched OSF Ventures, a part of OSF Innovation, in 2016 to strategically invest financially in opportunities that will improve patient outcomes, enhance patient experience and reduce the cost of health care. OSF Ventures deployed its first $75 Million fund across 16 portfolio companies and two other investment funds since its inception. OSF HealthCare has collaborated with many of these companies to test and improve the solutions they’ve created, with some successfully being used throughout the organization.
Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare has promised a $500,000 investment in a health technology accelerator that aims to bring new medtech startups to the city.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock established the Institute for Digital Health and Innovation to enhance telemedicine and digital health services. The institute will initially focus on increasing access to technology for video consultations and seek partnerships with other health systems to broaden the specialties it offers patients.
Providence St. Joseph Health partnered with Microsoft to build a new high-tech hospital that will improve the health system's EMR in addition to evolving the hospital model. Providence St. Joseph Health in Renton, Wash., acquired a Seattle-based healthcare technology company Lumedic, which uses blockchain technology to improve revenue cycle management. The health system also acquired Epic Consulting firm Bluetree as part of its strategy to diversify its revenue and support patient care.
So far in 2019, New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System has launched several innovation institutes and initiatives. It partnered with LabCorp to establish the Digital and Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Pathology Center of Excellence within its department of pathology, molecular and cell-based medicine. The health system also partnered with Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, to establish a digital health institute. Finally, the health system opened the Center for Computational Immunology at its Icahn School of Medicine, which will allow researchers to use genomics, machine learning and immunology to develop precision treatments.
Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health launched the Institute of Innovation & Artificial Intelligence, which aims to use advanced technology to personalize patient care. It will also partner with technology companies and research organizations to reach its goals.
Cleveland Clinic formed the Center for Clinical Artificial Intelligence to further the use of technology in diagnostics, disease prediction and treatment plans. The Cleveland Clinic Enterprise Analytics launched the center, which has already begun building machine learning models to identify patients at high risk of death during admission and several projects focused on personalized cancer care.
Emory University in Atlanta is planning a $1 billion "health innovation district" in Brookhaven, Ga. It filed an application with the city in May and would expect the development, which would include a hospital and hotel as well as commercial space, to take 15 years to complete.