Telemedicine for behavioral health, a service to give rides to cancer patients in treatment and a program to reduce readmissions are among the 15 finalists for payer Independence Blue Cross’s innovation challenge. A full list of the finalists is provided on the the IBX Game Changers Challenge website here.
The challenge seeks to develop health IT, devices and education programs to encourage healthy behavior.
Among the finalists are 1DocWay, a telemedicine startup that’s a graduate of DreamIt Ventures New York program and a winner of Wharton School of Business’ Wharton Venture Award earlier this year. The company provides access to psychiatrists to people who suffer from mood disorders through an Internet video linkup, with an eye to making healthcare more accessible to people in underserved areas in the U.S.
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Philly Patient Rides offers transportation for cancer patients in treatment using volunteer drivers and PhillyCarShare vehicles to improve access to hospitals and reduce transportation costs.
QuickSeeMD is a health IT company that won StartUp Weekend Health’s inaugural event in June. It seeks to reduce what it considers to be unneccesary ER visits. Its web-based tool provides alternatives to the ER by giving users the locations of nearby clinics and physician practices based on where they live.
PhenotypeIT works with employer health plans to manage healthcare risks.
RightCare Solutions, specializing in discharge planning and readmission management, was developed by University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing associate professor Kathy Bowles and Eric Heil of Domain Associates, a venture capital investor in the life sciences sector. It won Janssen Healthcare Innovation’s Connected Care Challenge earlier this year.
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The winners, announced at the end of the month, will get a $50,000 grant towards implementing their idea and presenting it to the insurer. They will also get mentoring help from Wharton Business School’s Entrepreneurial Programs and up to three months of desk space at technology incubator Venture F0rth.