Two organizations want to bring additional expertise to the point of care. How? Through a new collaboration that fuses trusted knowledge and innovative technology.
Boston-based Harvard Health Publications and Chicago-based Outcome Health are doing just that.
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HHP is Harvard Medical School’s consumer health education division. It utilizes the know-how of over 11,000 HMS faculty members to develop patient engagement materials.
Outcome Health (formerly known as ContextMedia) develops technology to go in doctor’s offices. Its educational products are used to engage patients by helping them understand their condition and make better decisions about their health.
For example, the company’s Digital Waiting Room Screen shows patients specialty-specific content as they wait to see their physician. The Digital Anatomy Board goes inside the exam room as a way to replace paper pamphlets. Providers can utilize a large digital screen to show patients interactive anatomical models.
The startup is a healthcare unicorn, as it is currently valued at $5 billion. Earlier this year, it closed its first-ever financing round, gaining $500 million from a plethora of investors including CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth equity investment fund.
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Through their collaboration, the entities will use Outcome Health’s technology to take Harvard Medical School’s expertise to more than 40,000 waiting rooms and exam rooms throughout the United States. The freshly created content will include everything from illustrations to videos.
In a statement, HHP editor-in-chief Gregory Curfman expressed enthusiasm over the new alliance.
“We’re very excited about this relationship with Outcome Health, which aligns directly with HHP’s mission of improving the health of the nation,” he said. “We will now be able to create a greater positive impact by sharing Harvard Medical School’s faculty expertise with a broader audience through an engaging and informative experience at the time it matters most: the moments of care.”
Outcome Health’s Anil Harjani, vice president of strategic partnerships, agreed.
“At Outcome Health, we believe that better health outcomes start during the millions of decisions that are made every day in practices, hospitals and health systems,” he noted in a statement. “In collaborating with Harvard to bring clinically-validated expertise to patients, caregivers and physicians in the moments of care, we have the opportunity to drive better health decision-making at scale — and will use this relationship to continually find compelling and innovative ways to share their insights through our platform.
Additionally, the collaboration could serve as one more way for the startup to achieve its latest goal: expanding from 20 percent of physician practices to 70 percent by 2020.
Photo: XiXinXing, Getty Images
