Gary Fingerhut took over the commercialization arm of the Cleveland Clinic in April when former executive director Chris Coburn stepped down to take a similar position at Partners HealthCare in Boston. And apparently Fingerhut’s done a good job, as Cleveland Clinic Innovations said today that the “acting” piece of his title will be scratched, making him the official executive director.
It’s a natural fit, really. Fingerhut spent two years learning the ins and outs of commercialization at the Clinic as Innovations’ general manager of information technology commercialization. A former senior vice president of a software development firm, he was a driving force behind growth of the Clinic’s health IT portfolio over the last few years.
At a time when investments and exits in the sector are flourishing, health IT companies now make up nearly a quarter of the Innovations portfolio. Just this year it’s revealed spinoffs focused on patient scheduling and communication, supporting anesthetists in the operating room and using biometric data to predict whether patients might develop arrhythmia after cardiac surgery.
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While the next companies to be spun out will depend on the work being done by doctors and researchers at the Clinic, Fingerhut expects to see the IT trend continue.
But, Innovations’ two big exits so far have come from the medical device and drug sectors, where its commercialization efforts have been most focused since its formation in 2000. Fingerhut insisted those areas are still important pieces to the Clinic’s commercialization strategy. “We’re seeing the same growth in devices as well,” he said in an interview. “Our entire business line, really, is in a high-growth mode.”
Meanwhile, the Clinic has struck deals to help seven other institutions commercialize their own discoveries as part of its Innovation Alliance. Not only does this bring in revenue, but Fingerhut said it also gives the Clinic an inside glimpse into what’s going on in other areas of the world, from the West Coast with St. Joseph Health to the East Coast with North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and all the way to Ireland with i360medical.
His personal goals for the near future at Innovations involve making sure that inventors are satisfied with what happens to their discoveries. “That’s an area I intend to focus on in managing, and leveraging the tone at the top from our leaders around innovative thinking,” he said. “I want to focus on results-oriented opportunities. I want to focus on inventor satisfaction.”
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[Image credit: Cleveland Clinic Innovations]
