Cincinnati’s Innov8 for Health Startup Accelerator has selected its inaugural group of Startup companies for this summer’s intensive 12-week accelerator program, giving these innovative health care businesses the opportunity to work with established mentors from various sectors of the health care industry and business community, develop a working prototype for their product, and meet with well-known venture capital firms and angel investors to seek funding for future growth.
Innov8 for Health joins a small group of other national health care accelerators, including Rock Health, Blueprint Health and Health Box. Seeking to leverage Cincinnati’s already advanced health IT capabilities, Innov8 for Health aims to nurture startup companies with health IT solutions that will help provide better heath and better care at lower costs. The Startup Accelerator is designed to provide these entrepreneurs a rapid start so they can quickly bring their products to market. With strong support from the local community Innov8 for Health’s goals are to improve health, attract and retain top talent, and to create jobs.
The winning Accelerator Teams will receive intensive, on-site business mentoring from several dozen executives who are volunteering with the program, as well as access to a unique group of “customer” and “patient” advisors from well-established health care institutions, payor organizations and other health technology companies. The new companies will be provided space at the Live Well Collaborative that is part of the University of Cincinnati’s Innovation on Vine project and will each receive $20,000 in startup funding from Ohio New Entrepreneur’s (ONE) Fund.
The teams selected for the 2012 Startup Accelerator class are:
1. CCM Link – Provides Connected Care Management web applications to improve health. CCM developed the CHARTS application (Connected Health Activities Reminder & Tracking System) as a patient self-management and a care team support tool. CHARTs enhances communication between patients, care givers, and providers reducing the care coordination burden for caregivers and improving patient adherence to prescribed health activities. Learn more at www.ccmlink.com.
2. Chronic Care Solutions – Focuses on improving the health and reducing the health care costs for patients with Type 1 Diabetes. It uses digital media and social gaming dynamics to increase patients’ understanding about effective diabetes management to support positive lifestyle behavior change and treatment adherence. It works with patients from initial diagnosis through long-term management of Type 1 Diabetes.
3. I Feel Great – Apps – Uses simple mobile and web tools to educate patients on health care costs and health safety. Users can match local health care providers to personal preferences, track treatments and medications, and view how healthcare choices impact their pocketbooks.
4. Intec Solutions Inc. –created the System Access Requested Solution health IT program to automate the otherwise time consuming task for hospitals to manage employees’ access to Private Health Information. This reduces the administrative burden of maintaining the high level of security required to comply with federal HIPAA regulation and to produce reports for external auditors.
5. MedaCheck, LLC – is developing a suite of software and hard ware solutions that help to tackle the costly problem of medication adherence. The New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) estimates patients not taking medications as prescribed leads to poorer health, more frequent hospitalizations, a higher risk of death and as much as $290 billion annually in increased medical costs. MedaCheck, LLC is dedicated to designing elegant solutions that empower patients to take the right medication, in the right amount, at the right time. .
6. Betterpointment - is a patient smartphone mobile app designed to kick-start and improves the quality of patient communication with his or her physician. Betterpointment is simple and fast and uses machine learning and patient input to generate an appointment agenda and a concise opening remark. Betterpointment helps physicians, who need highly relevant patient input during the opening minutes of the exam, by eliciting focused patient communication to deliver a lower cost and higher quality mutual model of healthcare delivery.
7. Empowering Innovations LLC - is dedicated to helping empower people to reach their potential by providing real, fast, easy & long-term solutions to address issues that hold them back. The company’s first product, MyFear Zapper, is an interactive web-based game that helps children aged 3+ build long-term confidence by learning how to face and conquer fears. The product assists therapists, physicians and parents by using validated psychological techniques and gaming dynamics to teach children how to overcome fears and gain confidence. Empowering Innovations LLC is led by Andrea Brady, an entrepreneur with expertise in marketing. Brady came to Cincinnati to work at Procter and Gamble and has owned her own marketing consulting company for 20 years. Her partner, Tracy Ruberg, is a strategic development and sales professional with experience at companies including Dell, HP and Ernst & Young.
8. The eighth offer is in the process of being cleared
More info: Innov8 for Health Startup Accelerator
