The CEO Council for Growth’s Health Care Innovation Collaborative has launched an open call for innovators around the country to work with its founding member organizations to tackle problems associated with chronic disease. Those who submit ideas at www.GreaterThanHealthCare.com, an online portal managed by the CEO Council, may be selected to present their ideas to founding member organizations, and, ultimately, work directly with these organizations to accelerate innovation that improves patient care and outcomes.
The Collaborative’s Founding Members are Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Comcast, Drexel University, Independence Blue Cross, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, and University of Pennsylvania Health System. The Collaborative was born of the CEO Council’s Health Care Innovation Task Force, co-chaired by John Fry, president of Drexel University and Daniel J. Hilferty, president & CEO of Independence Blue Cross.
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“The Health Care Innovation Collaborative is the glue that is bringing the region together – both large organizations and the small, nimbler innovators – to turn Philadelphia into the national hub for health care innovation,” said Hilferty. “This open call for innovation will make it easier for young companies to present their ideas to the area’s established leaders in health care innovation, making it easier to refine, scale and – potentially — bring these ideas to market.”
The Collaborative, first announced in May, represents a new and unprecedented national model for collaboration among health care providers, academic research institutions and the investor community. The founding member organizations have positioned the region for strong continued growth and development in health care innovation. Working together, these organizations are leveraging the unique assets of the Greater Philadelphia region to accelerate and lead the development of innovation in health care technology and delivery. The Collaborative chose to first focus on chronic diseases because they cause seven out of ten deaths every year in this country, and treatment of these diseases account for 86% of America’s health care costs.
Fry stated, “Philadelphia is reinventing itself as a place for entrepreneurs. This Collaborative is another step in demonstrating to the nation and the world that Philadelphia is the place to be for health care innovation because its major institutions are invested in finding ideas that improve people’s lives.”
Ideas can be submitted through the web portal Greater Than, managed by the CEO Council, an initiative of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Applicants must submit a brief proposal following the online guidelines. Applicants do not need to be in the Greater Philadelphia region. Submissions are welcome from individuals as well as domestic and international companies. The submission process opens on November 11, 2015 and closes January 15, 2016. Priority will be given to those applicants that represent opportunities to reduce costs tied to health care, potentially benefit patients or health care consumers, and have a positive impact on one or more socioeconomically disadvantaged population. The applicant notification period begins mid-March.