New Orleans BioInnovation Center
Next month marks the inaugural MedCity INVEST Pop Health conference in collaboration with the New Orleans Business Alliance. Population health is a timely topic as communities around the nation wrestle with how best to help patients manage chronic conditions, reduce hospitalizations, and improve outcomes. The shift to value-based care provides a degree of urgency to such efforts, as providers now bear more financial risk directly related to patient outcomes.
The agenda for the May 22 event at the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium will include a keynote from Ochsner Health System Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Richard Milani, who will spotlight how the health system is harnessing digital medicine from its innovation lab to treat hypertension and Type 2 diabetes in Louisiana.
A panel discussion will highlight the role of social determinants of health in managing chronic diseases such as how providers and payers are using food delivery and improving transportation for patients to help patients manage their health. Among the speakers are Dr. Jennifer Avegno, New Orleans Department of Health Director; Rick Born, Aetna Better Health of Louisiana CEO; Sarah Hallberg, Virta Health Medical Director; Dr. Timothy Harlan, Associate Dean for Clinical Services and Executive Director of Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine; and Julia Jenkins, UnityPoint Accountable Care Medical Director.
The event will culminate in a pitching competition between startups focused on helping to manage chronic conditions from patient engagement to clinical decision support and care coordination. To register, click here.
Jeanette Weiland, New Orleans Business Alliance
So why New Orleans for a population health conference? In an interview, Jeanette Weiland, New Orleans Business Alliance Senior Director for Bio Business Development & Strategy, explained that the region is more familiar than most with the need to improve the management of chronic conditions. She also called attention to New Orleans’ healthcare landscape and its ingredients to support healthcare and biotech innovation.
“When compared to national and local statistics, our community members face abnormally high degrees of inequity when it comes to population health issues,” Weiland said.
A graph from The Data Center’s Tricentennial Prosperity Index Report illustrates how widespread chronic conditions are among Louisiana residents. The need to develop better tools to track, analyze and improve how patients, payers and providers work together to manage Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and other chronic conditions makes the INVEST Population Health conference an ideal forum to have this conversation with industry stakeholders.
The city has also sought to build its profile as a healthcare innovation hub. Years ago, the New Orleans Business Alliance identified the Bio industry as a key focus of its industry attraction, retention, and expansion efforts. Part of the rationale for this decision was due to the fact that New Orleans enjoys the luxury of having multiple first-class healthcare systems that compete to provide excellent care to their patients.
Downtown New Orleans boasts a Bio District with two large hospitals — University Medical Center, which has a Level I Trauma Center, and the VA Hospital, as well as LCMC Health, Ochsner, and Tulane Medical Center, which became part of a joint venture with HCA in 1995. There are also two medical schools — LSU Health Science Center and Tulane University — the Louisiana Cancer Research Center, the New Orleans Bio Innovation Center, and the VA Hospital’s new research center.
“Our population faces significant discrepancies in health outcomes,” said Weiland. “The more we can do to encourage innovative solutions that may positively affect the health of our citizens, the more likely our citizens are to engage in healthy economic activity which bolsters our community as a whole.”
Healthcare startups are a key ingredient of New Orleans’ healthcare innovation hub. Weiland called attention to a few of them. She noted that Compliance Partners has developed a transformational technology that provides quality, patient safety, and risk management solutions for hospitals to help manage their day-to-day operations.
Cadex Genomics provides real-time insight into therapy response for patients with stage IV solid tumors. Cadex already began conducting clinical trials with MD Anderson, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, and more health systems, including international ones.
“So far, Cadex’s technology is proving to be a game-changer for patients and their oncologists,” said Weiland.
AxoSim is a nerve-on-a-chip business that enables pharmaceutical companies to develop effective drugs more quickly and at a much lower cost. Its approach to drug development could revolutionize biopharma R&D and the regulatory pathway for approval in the future.
New Orleans Business Alliance is also keen to attract healthcare startups from other parts of the country and the world. Asked why these startups should have New Orleans on their radar, Weiland answered this way.
“The startup community in New Orleans is very strong. There is a healthy number of successful startups in general, including healthcare industry-specific companies. If healthcare startups offer tech-based solutions, then they should keep in mind their underlying business model and understand that Louisiana offers the most competitive tech tax incentives in the country. Add to that state incentives such as our Quality Jobs Program, New Orleans’ unique quality of life, and all of the resources available to assist with workforce development and other initiatives, New Orleans companies are primed for success.”
Photo: Courtesy of New Orleans Business Alliance