Memorial Hermann Health System and Moffitt Cancer Center have recently struck partnerships with Reimagine Care, a startup focused on providing support to cancer patients via an AI assistant and text messages with oncology experts.
Health system VC arms appear to have a lot more to offer to startups than traditional VC funds. Startup founders say that the tech pilots they launch with their health system partners end up being more effective because they are more incentive-aligned. For health systems, investing in a startup allows them to have a hand in shaping the tools they will eventually deploy across their enterprises to solve issues like burnout, payment delays and excessive hospital readmissions.
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston struck a new partnership with Midi Health, a virtual care clinic focused exclusively on women who are navigating menopause. The health system's two main goals for the partnership are to provide another point of access for its patients to manage their health at home and to gather data to inform decisions about which services it should offer to meet women’s healthcare needs.
Last fall, the two Texas healthcare giants signed a letter of intent to form a new health system, which had not yet been named.
The organizations, which anticipate finalizing a definitive agreement in 2019, will create a combined system that is yet to be named.