Health IT, Startups

Pitch Perfect Winner Spotlight: The startup revamping clinical education

Health Scholars, which focuses on merging technology and clinical education, won the health services track of the MedCity INVEST Pitch Perfect competition earlier this month.

From left: MedCity News Editor in Chief Arundhati Parmar, MHIN President David Kereiakes, and Health Scholars CEO Gary Durack

As technology evolves, it touches numerous corners of the healthcare space — including clinical education. That’s where Health Scholars, a new start-up headquartered near Boulder, Colorado, is making its mark.

The company, which won the health services track of the MedCity INVEST Pitch Perfect competition earlier this month, was founded in 2017 and spun out of OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois. It currently has clinical and support operations at the Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center on the OSF campus.

As it got off the ground, the start-up rolled together virtual reality, simulation and other technologies from a few early-stage companies, CEO Gary Durack explained in a recent phone interview.

Now, Health Scholars’ solutions include a virtual learning environment, simulation capabilities and other tech-enabled clinical education content. It also offers a platform aimed at helping organizations pinpoint performance gaps and measure the quality impact of education.

In addition, it has a new product coming out in July that narrows in on never events. The tool lets users experience how to deal with a fire in the emergency room.

“What we’re focused on is the ability to be a place where learning education and training and quality can meet in the platform,” Durack said. “We focus on the delivery of blended learning.”

Currently, Health Scholars has a number of customers. These include OSF HealthCare, NYC Health + Hospitals, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Mount Sinai and Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

The start-up isn’t the only entity harnessing VR for educational and training purposes. But Durack said what separates his company is that it focuses on experience-based learning. He also noted that Health Scholars is able to host content from other entities that have their own clinical education content.

Looking ahead, one of the company’s top goals is to increase customer adoption. It also hopes to see its technology bring a positive impact and better patient outcomes to its clients.

As for winning the health services track of Pitch Perfect, Durack said it helped raise the company’s profile.

“It shows that we’re working on something that’s validated … by investors,” he noted.

Additionally, being part of the contest helped Health Scholars make connections with potential customers and individuals who may be interested in near-term or long-term funding opportunities.

The health services track judges included Matter CEO Steven Collens, Further Fund founder Jordan Dolin and Pritzker Group Venture Capital partner Adam Koopersmith.

Photo: Jack Soltysik

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