$4.2 Million New York Digital Health Accelerator Announces Inaugural Class

Today at the Digital Health Conference, NYeC announced their inaugural class of companies for the New York Digital Health Accelerator. This is a big announcement just 5 months after they announced the creation of the Digital Health Accelerator.

As I said when I first wrote about this health IT accelerator, there are a number of health IT accelerators and incubators out there, but I think that the Digital Health Accelerator differentiates itself in a couple important ways. First, they offer $300k of investment in the company. Second, they have real tangible relationships with hospital systems. The second is likely the more important. There’s little of more value to a health IT startup company than actual customers giving you feedback on what you’re creating.

Here’s the full press release announcing the inaugural class including a list of companies:

NYeC, Partnership for New York City Fund and the DOH have Joined Forces to Create $4.2M Digital Health Accelerator Program, the Largest Program of its Kind, to Encourage Health IT Innovation and Create Jobs

New York, NY – Today the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Partnership for New York City Fund (Partnership Fund) revealed the inaugural class of the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA), a program that will make New York a hub for the emerging digital health technology industry. The partnership is the largest-funded health IT accelerator program in the United States, and the first to provide access to senior-level healthcare providers who are committed to the success of the eight growth-stage companies selected.

With its initial investment of $4.2 million, the NYDHA program will create approximately 1,500 jobs over five years. In addition, it is expected that the companies will attract upwards of $150 million to $200 million in investment from the venture capital community post-program.

The program has selected 8 early- and growth-stage companies that are developing cutting-edge technology products in care coordination, patient engagement, analytics and message alerts for healthcare providers. The program received 250 applications from companies located in 27 states and 10 countries.  Each chosen company is awarded up to $300,000 along with invaluable mentoring from senior-level executives at leading hospitals and other providers in New York for nine months. Each company has committed to opening an office in New York State.

“The Accelerator provides much-needed, valuable tools for providers in support of New York State’s Medicaid Redesign initiative,” New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H. said.  ”The initiative, which promotes a shift from the costly fee-for-service model to a more effective and efficient managed care approach, is resulting in better care – at lower cost – for patients across the continuum of care.  The Accelerator is an essential first step to stimulate the market and nurture innovation within the entrepreneurial community.”

Tech companies accepted into the program are receiving direct mentorship and feedback from senior-level executives with the participating providers. Their coaching, testing, and feedback will help these companies create the most efficient tools that the medical community will want to use to streamline the sharing of electronic medical records and improve coordination of care.

In addition, companies have direct access to the technology platform that is connecting electronic health records across New York State, the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY).

“We are creating the next generation of healthcare applications that will transform the healthcare delivery system,” said NYeC Executive Director David Whitlinger. “These companies are the first software development vendors to have direct access to the SHIN-NY, a secure platform that embodies all of the federal and state policies for usage of patient data by the community.”

“One of the biggest challenges for early stage health care companies is getting access to large customers” explains Maria Gotsch, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City Fund.  “This program not only provides that access but allows the eight companies to benefit from high level feedback, which will accelerate their growth and create good jobs in the important health IT sector in New York.”

The investment capital was provided by a syndicate of investors, including Aetna, Janssen Healthcare Innovation, Milestone Venture Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Partnership for New York City Fund, Quaker Partners, Safeguard Scientifics, and UnitedHealth Group. The Empire State Development Corporation, Health Research Inc., and NYeC have provided additional funds to operate the NYDHA.

The 8 selected companies include:

AdhereTx: KnowMyMeds web-based, interoperable software supports team-based medication management and reconciliation for high-risk patients at the point of care. KnowMyMeds enables healthcare practitioners to perform clinically validated, cost-effective medication review for high-risk patients, including “dual eligibles” and the chronically ill, to reduce their drug-related hospitalizations and readmissions. (www.adhertx.com)

Aidin: Aidin is a web-based referral platform for hospitals discharging patients to post-acute care.  Aidin collects hard data about how well post-acute providers perform and makes it easy for hospital staff to present that information to patients when they are choosing their post-acute provider – helping patients choose better providers for better outcomes. (www.myaidin.com)

Avado: Avado allows clinicians and patients to securely communicate, track, and manage health information. They centralize data from many EHR’s and make it usable for all stakeholders.  Providers can take comfort knowing that Avado exceeds Meaningful Use requirements for patient engagement while also addressing requirements for medical homes and accountable models. (www.avado.com)

CipherHealth: CipherHealth helps hospitals avoid government penalties by reducing preventable readmissions, improving outcomes, better coordinating care, and creating a positive patient experience.  CipherHealth reaches out over the phone, through tablets, via email, text, or the web, better engaging patients in their care and building stronger relationships between patients and providers. (www.cipherhealth.com)

Cureatr: Cureatr will improve how healthcare providers communicate and coordinate patient care. Their lightweight, user-friendly HIPAA-secure group messaging system integrates with existing directory, scheduling and paging systems, making it easy to use while coordinating care within or between organizations. (www.cureatr.com)

 MedCPU: MedCPU delivers accurate real-time clinical care advice through its revolutionary Advisor Button technology. It uniquely captures the complete clinical picture from clinicians’ free-text notes, dictations and structured documentation entered into any EMR, and analyzes it against a growing library of best-practice content, generating real-time precise prompts for best care consideration. (www.medcpu.com)

Remedy Systems: Remedy Systems leverages the power of mobile to lower the cost and improve the quality of healthcare via its flexible care coordination platform that enables physicians and nurses to concentrate on delivering the highest quality of care possible while fostering engagement from patients and family/friends. (www.remedysystems.com) 

SpectraMD: SpectraMD maximizes the value of data across the continuum of care with business intelligence solutions. Their FOCUS™ Actionable Analytics platform enables stakeholders in hospitals and ambulatory care settings to improve outcomes, increase revenues, succeed in quality-based initiatives including Reducing Preventable Readmissions and leverage analytics for the Health Home initiative. (www.spectramd.com)

22 leading healthcare providers are engaged in intense mentorship with the selected companies including:

Resources:

A new website at www.digitalhealthaccelerator.com provides updates and progress of the program.

About The New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC): NYeC is a not-for-profit organization, working to improve healthcare for all New Yorkers through health information technology (health IT). Founded in 2006 by healthcare leaders, NYeC receives funding from state and federal grants to serve as the focal point for health IT in the State of New York. NYeC works to develop policies and standards, to assist healthcare providers in making the shift to electronic health records, and to coordinate the creation of a network to connect healthcare providers statewide. The goal of NYeC is that no patient, wherever they may need treatment within the State of New York, is ever without fast, secure, accurate, and accessible information. For more information about NYeC, visit www.nyehealth.org @NYeHealth on Twitter.

About the Partnership for New York City Fund (Partnership Fund):The Partnership for New York City Fund (www.nycif.org) is the vision of Henry R. Kravis, founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., who serves as its Founding Chairman. The Fund has raised over $110 million to mobilize the city’s world financial and business leaders to help build a stronger and more diversified local economy. It has built a network of top experts from the investment and corporate communities who help identify and support New York City’s most promising entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. The Fund is governed by a Board of Directors co-chaired by Russell L. Carson, General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe; and Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner of One Equity Partners. The Fund is the economic development arm of the Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org), an organization of the leaders of New York City’s top corporate, investment, and entrepreneurial firms. They work in partnership with city and state government officials, labor groups, and the nonprofit sector to promote the interest of the city and its neighborhoods. The Partnership carries out research, policy formulation, and issue advocacy at the city, state, and federal levels, leveraging the resources and expertise of its CEO and Corporate partners.

About the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY): The SHIN-NY (pronounced “shiny”) is coordinated by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and functions similarly to a public utility, making electronic health records secure and accessible to healthcare providers statewide while improving patient care and lowering costs. SHIN-NY is a network of information transmitted between users. Like the Internet, as more users connect, it grows, evolves, and becomes more secure, efficient, and easy to use. As an increasing number of private practices, nursing homes, clinics and hospitals begin to digitize their records, they have the option to connect to information hubs in their region of the state. These Regional Health Information Organizations collect health record data from the healthcare providers in their area and, with patient consent, allow this information to be shared securely with other providers in the region. The SHIN-NY will connect these regional hubs to create a private and secure network spanning the entire State of New York. To see a video about how the SHIN-NY is transforming health information exchange in New York State visit http://nyehealth.org/what-we-do/statewide-network/.