Three Midwest health systems have invested in Avia Innovator Network, a provider-focused health innovation accelerator, while a previous investor from the Pacific Northwest has re-upped.
Froedtert Health in Milwaukee led this Series C round for Avia, with participation from new “member-owners” Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and OSF HealthCare, based in Peoria, Illinois. Renton, Washington-based Providence Health & Services, the lead in Series B, also invested in this new round, according to Avia. The dollar figure was not announced.
Avia, headquartered in Chicago, serves more as a testing ground and curator for digital health innovations than a traditional incubator or Rock Health-style accelerator because it’s backed by providers rather than entrepreneurs. “Our whole mission is to accelerate the pace of health system transformation,” said Nicole Winokur, Avia’s director of marketing.
“They’re a de-risker for their members,” added Peter Preusing, president of Inception Health, the digital health center at Froedtert and the affiliated Medical College of Wisconsin. In other words, Avia vets technology to help its provider-members find answers to specific problems and identify good startups to invest in.
“One of the reasons we are so enthusiastic about Avia is that right now in this space, there is a din of noise,” said Preusing, who has joined the Avia board in the wake of Froedtert’s investment. “Avia is seeking the signal in all that noise.”
The Avia network also is meant to convene innovators among its membership, which includes such names as Mayo Clinic, Sutter Health, Trinity Health, UCLA Health and Christiana Care Health System. “The real payoff is the implementation in these health systems,” Preusing said. “From my perspective, this is another way to hold [startups’] feet to the fire.”
Inception Health went to Avia to find something to help patients and visitors navigate through Froedtert facilities. On the recommendation of Avia and its members, Froedtert now is implementing a wayfinding app from a startup company called Connexient, Preusing said.
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.
Other apps that address specific issues are in the vetting process and will soon show up at Froedtert. “We would expect to see a lot more of that in the coming fiscal year,” which starts in July, Preusing said. “We’re on a rapid escalation now.”
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