Brigham and Women’s Hospital has formed a partnership with a San Francisco-based seed-stage investment fund in an effort to test and potentially integrate digital health startup innovations into the Boston hospital.
The hospital formed an affiliated medical partnership with Rock Health, and the two organizations are currently in the midst of finalizing plans.
The partnership is expected to begin this summer and last three years.
Lesley Solomon, executive director of the Brigham Innovation Hub at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said the idea is to validate the innovations being funded by Rock Health.
“We will have the opportunity to collaborate with thought leaders in the digital space developing tech that (has) the potential to dramatically transform health care delivery,” Solomon said. “(We’re trying to figure out) how can we get access to good digital technology that can help us impact patient care.”
The Innovation Hub helps support internal startups and hosts innovation competitions. Solomon said executives were hopeful that Rock Health, a seed-stage venture fund focused on digital health startups, would also look at investing in Brigham technology, though that wasn’t the intended purpose of the relationship.
“I’m excited,” Solomon said. “For me, Rock Health is a thought leader in the digital space. They have demonstrated that they are committed to helping Brigham entrepreneurs tackle the biggest problems in health care.”
The startups will be focused around digital health, including devices that connect to the cloud, apps and software platforms, and telemedicine.
The Rock Health partnership also offers Brigham new access to California startups.
“It doesn’t limit us from partnering with others, but for us we’ll have the opportunity to talk to the best, work with the best,” Solomon said. “And they are based in San Francisco, where we don’t have a presence, so it helps us get access to startups we might not know about here.”
via Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Rock Health form partnership – Boston Business Journal.
