As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and HITECH Act are rolled out, providers and payers are looking for ways to address pain points varying from improving patient engagement and remote monitoring to helping consumers better understand their insurance options to making better use of patient information in the context of big data.
Some accelerators are helping members of the healthcare ecosystem and entrepreneurs find each other. These four healthcare accelerators are currently looking for applicants.
1. Blueprint Health
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Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Where: New York, New York
When: July 8 to September 26
Who runs it: Mathew Farkash and Dr. Brad Weinberg are the co-founders and are entrepreneurs. The accelerator is part of the TechStars network, which has helped it cultivate a wide variety of mentors.
What are they looking for: “We look for teams that can clearly and concisely articulate what problem their potential customer faces and how the team can build a sustainable business by solving the customer’s problem. The best applicants can typically do this in one or two sentences and are very focused on a single problem,” according to its website. Teams should be resourceful, efficient problem solvers. “We look for people we could have a beer with, go to the gym with, and work with for three months.”
What do entrepreneurs get: Successful applicants receive $20,000 in cash to use as they please in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake in their companies. They also get support from a mentor network of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, pharmacies, physicians, healthcare IT vendors and startups, along with venture capital firms.
Click to apply: http://www.blueprinthealth.org/?fwd=1&page_id=13&page=application
Deadline: June 8
2. The Iron Yard Digital Health accelerator
Where: Spartansburg, South Carolina
When: July 15 to September 29
Who runs it: A group of entrepreneurs and designers, among them are Peter Barth, Kate McCarthy and Eric Dodds, formed Iron Yard, which also runs a technology accelerator program.
What are they looking for: “Company should be software or software/hardware combinations (like FitBit). We don’t do: medical devices, biotech or life sciences.”
What do entrepreneurs get: Companies get $20,000 in exchange for a 6 percent stake equity stake in their businesses. They will also work with the accelerator’s partner companies such as JM Smith Corp., a holding company for six pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses; the Mayo Clinic; AbbVie (Abbott Labs); Zebra Technologies; and BMW.
Click to apply: http://www.theironyard.com/accelerator/digital-health-program
Deadline: June 7
3. Healthbox
Where: Jacksonville, Florida
When: It is a 16-week program
Who runs it: Nina Nashif is the CEO and founder of Healthbox, which has accelerators in Chicago, Boston and London, England. For the Florida program, it has partnered with Florida Blue–Florida’s Blue Cross Blue Shield company.
What are they looking for: “Competitive applicants will address a specific and pressing challenge in the healthcare industry. For example, solutions of interest may improve patient engagement, provider effectiveness or preventative health and wellness.” It’s a 16-week program and selected companies get $50,000 in seed capital in exchange for a 7 percent stake.
Click here to apply: http://healthbox.com/users/sign_up/applicant
Deadline: June 2
4. Tigerlabs Health
Where: Princeton, New Jersey
When: Rolling admission
Who runs it: Bert Navarrete and Jason Glickman are the co-founders. Navarrete is a venture partner at Forte Venture, part of Forte Capital Management and used to run M&A at Internet Capital Group. Glickman is also the CEO of Connected Sports.
What are they looking for: One partner, Merck GHI, seeks to address the impact of health technology, specifically big data, on healthcare. New York-Presbyterian Hospital seeks to identify new IT solutions that can help bring about positive changes in the way healthcare is delivered, according to its website.
The rolling year-round accelerator casts a wide net, but it’s particularly interested in receiving applications from individuals and teams in these areas: software as a service, mobile health, disease management, integrated care management, adherence programs, big data, clinical discovery platform, self-diagnosis, remote monitoring, remote therapy, patient/payer disruption and virtual care.
What do applicants get? $20,000 in seed funding in exchange for a 6 percent to 10 percent equity stake in their businesses. Applicants selected for its innovation track will be offered entrepreneur-in-residence status with innovation track participants, on-site access to facilities, collaboration and refinement with internal innovation teams, and pilot opportunities, according to its website.
