Nine months after forming a partnership, the American Medical Association and Chicago-based health tech incubator Matter launched a studio to support closer collaboration between healthcare entrepreneurs and physicians, according to a company statement.
The idea is to provide a space where healthcare technology can be optimized and new products can be evaluated in simulated medical settings.
AMA CEO Dr. James Madara said the new space has the ability to help entrepreneurs connect, in person and virtually, with physicians to fully understand challenges in patient care that can be resolved with advances in new technology.
Steven Collens, Matter CEO, called attention to the value of the space and how it can provide a way for entrepreneurs to get feedback on the value of their products, services or ideas.
“It is incredibly valuable for healthcare entrepreneurs to have access to physicians as they build their products, technologies and businesses,” he said. “The AMA Interaction Studio enables entrepreneurs and clinicians to collaborate with each other in a real-world, technology enabled environment to accelerate the development of meaningful new solutions to improve health and healthcare.”
To get this level of access, startups frequently have to apply for coveted applications in healthcare accelerators that frequently ask them to give up equity for the opportunity to gain an audience with healthcare professionals to find out if their approach has merit and to use their feedback to fine-tune their approach.
Scott Vold, founder and CEO of Fibroblast, a Matter member company, said: “Being able to interact with physicians, show them our solution and get their feedback is going to streamline our entire testing and production processes.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
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Introducing the AMA Interaction Studio at MATTER from MATTER on Vimeo.
