Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina Health and Cleveland-based MetroHealth System have joined forces to create a nonprofit virtual and in-home care company called Ovatient.
The two organizations say the collaboration illustrates how health systems can pool resources and work together to address issues like staffing shortages.
"Ovatient shifts care away from traditional care delivery sites and brings it to the customer," said Michael Dalton, Ovatient CEO and entrepreneur-in-residence at MetroHealth, in a joint Oct. 24 news release. "With Ovatient's proprietary platform, we will accelerate and scale it, not just across MetroHealth and MUSC but to other health systems throughout the country."
The two entities say Ovatient will also allow them to compete with "nontraditional healthcare providers" trying to enter the market while keeping patients connected with their acute and procedural care sites. The new venture is "built by health systems, for health systems," stated MUSC Health CEO Patrick Cawley, MD.