DreamIt Ventures -- the Philly-based accelerator that helped launch
SnipSnap and
CloudMine – is tackling a particularly challenging industry: Healthcare.
DreamIt Health, which launched April 8, focuses solely on companies in healthcare IT.
The accelerator’s first class features ten companies including
AirCare, a company developed by
VenturePact that helps minimize re-admissions through mobile nursing;
Osmosis, a tool that helps clinicians retain vast amounts of knowledge during medical training; and
Medilo, a mobile healthcare card that details benefits and eliminates the need for forms.
Accelerator programs like DreamIt help validate business assumptions, minimize startup risk and guide businesses to market. With healthcare startups, that process is more complex. Aside from needing to comply with changing regulations, these companies deal with a market that's behind heavy hospital doors -- data is often difficult, if not impossible, to access. DreamIt has addressed these challenges through collaborative partnerships with
Penn Medicine, the region's largest provider, and
Blue Cross Blue Shield, the largest insurer.
Mentoring for the nascent companies will include time with industry experts who can explain the behind-the-scenes aspects of medical operations. Each company will also receive a a stipend of up to $50,000.
"It's about understanding the operational systems and getting access -- potentially to the systems themselves, but also to the experts,” says Karen Griffith Gryga, managing partner at DreamIt. "We provide the payer-provider element as well as access to the operational systems, the data and other resources that are often difficult for these companies to access."
Companies also need to navigate conflicting interests between payers and providers. Fortunately, those parties do agree on the need for improved quality of care and tools that enable patient self-management. An app regulating daily nutritional habits, for example, could help individuals treat their diabetes or obesity. The payer and provider also share an interest in big data management systems that can help hospitals treat more people.
"Now, more than ever, there is this desire among the different constituents of the healthcare ecosystem to find a way to work together in a much more collaborative fashion," says Griffith Gryga. "Hopefully that will continue."
Source: Karen Griffith Gryga, DreamIt Ventures
Writer: Dana Henry