IDIH Week 2022 | USA Regional Workshop Mini Series - Interoperability by Design
In this mini-series, we will be taking a look back at the IDIH Week 2022 USA Regional Workshop, titled The Impact of COVID-19 on the Shared Priorities for International Cooperation in Active and Healthy Ageing, with a different blog post devoted to each of the three common priorities that were refined throughout the IDIH project: Interoperability by Design, Data Governance, and Digital Inclusion.
IDIH Week 2022 | USA Regional Workshop Mini Series
The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health - 2021: Full Results
The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli State of Digital Health Survey - 2021
Read on to learn about some findings we are releasing for the first time, see the slide show of the full results, and read the white paper!
By Matthew Holt & Elizabeth Brown
Earlier this season, we presented the key findings from the Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health in a webinar and blog post. After the successful webinar and release of the Executive Summary, we took a deep dive into the full survey data. Now, we are excited to share with you the full findings and white paper, along with some findings we have not shared previously.
While we added findings in each area previously covered (including Demographics, Customers & Products, Revenue, Regulation & Data Security, Dealing with the “New Normal”, and Funding & the Investment Climate), one area we really explored further was that of digital health company business operations. In fact, we added a whole section just on this! Below are a couple of things we have not previously told you about the inner workings of digital health companies…
1
Actual hiring versus (pre-COVID) expected hiring was linearly associated, both positively and negatively, with increasing company stage. As companies became more mature, there was almost a straight upwards trend towards “adding more staff than planned”, with mature companies having the highest percentage (42%) who added more than planned. This was opposite the linear association between stage and “[keeping] hiring plans as before” - the earlier stage the company, the more likely to have not changed their pre-COVID hiring plans.
Answers to the four-choice question: “Since the start of COVID-19, compared to what you were expecting, have you:…”
2
From business strategy to human resources functions, accounting, and client-facing product technology development, a majority of companies keep things in-house and carried out these functions themselves… except for one thing… the management of internal-facing technology such as CRM or reporting tools. Here, a significant 89% of companies worked at least in part with external vendors, with 72% relying only on vendors for this technology.
Curious what else we found? See below for the white paper on the findings, followed by the slide deck containing the full results of the survey!
Last, but certainly not least, thank you again to all those who took this survey and those who joined the webinar!
The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health - Executive Summary Release
The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli State of Digital Health Survey
By Matthew Holt & Elizabeth Brown
Last year was a remarkable time for digital health. Obviously it was pretty unusual and tragic for the world in general as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc. We mourn those lost, and we praise our front line health workers and scientists. But for digital health companies, in almost no time 2020 changed from fear of a market collapse to what became a massive funding boom.
But no-one has reported from the ground what this means for digital health companies, of which there are perhaps 10-15,000 worldwide with maybe 6-8,000 based in the United States. Despite the headlines, most are not pulling down $200m funding rounds or SPACing out. So working with professional services firm Wipfli, we at Catalyst @ Health 2.0 decided to find out what digital health companies experienced in this most extraordinary year.
Between Thanksgiving 2020 and mid-March 2021, we surveyed more than 300 members of the digital health ecosystem, focusing on leaders from more than 180 private (and a few public) digital health companies. We asked them about their market, their experience during COVID-19, and what they thought of the environment. We also asked them about the mechanics of running their businesses. The results are pretty interesting.
The Key Message: COVID-19 was very good for digital health companies--on average. Most are very optimistic but, despite the massive increase in funding since the brief (but real) post-lockdown crash, most digital health companies remain small and struggling for funding, revenue, and customers.
We also heard from investors, and a bigger group we called “users” (mostly payers, providers, pharma, non-healthcare tech companies, e-patients & consultants). While these “users” also saw a big trend towards the use of (and, to a lesser extent, paying for) digital health tools and services, they were not as gung-ho as were digital health companies or investors, who were even more optimistic.
The summary deck containing the key findings is below and there is more analysis and commentary below the jump.
The Demographics: Most digital health companies are small startups. Given the ease of starting a company and the difficulty in selling to larger incumbents or getting a large number of consumers as users, that is not a surprise. In our sample, 49% of digital health companies had fewer than 20 employees, and 20% had fewer than 5. While we asked several objective questions about size, revenue & funding, we also asked companies to self-select as to their “scale”, in a way that matches our classification of startups. The five stages are:
It is only when companies are “Actively Scaling” that they start to really grow their employee base, with more than 50% of companies in this stage having more than 100 employees. Even so, a substantial portion (30%) of “Mature” companies still have between 50-99 employees
Customers & Products: Most digital health companies are targeting more than one type of customer. 60% were targeting providers with 57% targeting payers. Substantial minorities (33% & 34%) were selling to consumers and employers, respectively. And, of course, there are several commonalities--of the companies who said they were targeting employers, 75% also targeted payers. When looking at the products and service offerings companies are providing, almost all (86%) were selling software, with over half (55%) selling services--in fact more than half of those selling software were also selling services.
Revenue: We also asked explicitly about revenue--which, not surprisingly, irked some respondents! As you would expect in 2019, a majority of companies had either no revenue (33%) or less than $500K (21%) in revenue. But they had high expectations, with only 25% expecting to be below $500K in revenue by 2021 (this year!). In fact, while only 10% of companies had revenue over $30m in 2019, 16% expected to be at that level in 2021.
As you might expect the biggest changes were expected by those who described themselves as “Just Beginning to Scale” or “Actively Scaling”. 75% of the the “Just Beginning” group were at $2m or below in revenue in 2019 (in fact most were below $500K), whereas 65% expect to be above $2m in 2021. Only 14% of the “Actively Scaling” group were above $30m in 2019 but a full 48% think they’ll be there in 2021.
COVID-19’s Impact on Revenue: We tried to understand the impact of COVID-19 by asking about how companies’ actual revenue in 2020 compared to plan or expectation. 41% said that they were above expectation, with 29% saying they were slightly above (15-50% greater) and 12% saying they were significantly higher (50+%) than plan. Only 5% (50+%) were significantly below plan. Given how optimistic the startup forecasts I see tend to be, I think this shows that COVID-19 did boost revenue dramatically. Again, it was the companies who were “Just Beginning to Scale” or “Actively Scaling” who saw the most unexpected upside.
COVID-19’s Impact on Product Usage & Personnel Hiring: Revenue is all very nice, but what about actual usage? As you might expect, 65% of companies saw usage of their products or service offerings increase more than expected, with 15% saying it increased dramatically (50%+ above plan). Those with products in the market already, either “Just Beginning to Scale,” “Actively Scaling” or “Mature Offering”, saw the biggest uptake, with 29%, 37% & 27% respectively, saying that usage increased dramatically. This translated somewhat into hiring plans, with 29% of companies hiring more than planned, and, again, that deviation being concentrated in those “Just Beginning to Scale (31%),” “Actively Scaling (37%)” or “Mature Offering (36%)”.
Most companies (66%) added new products and services during COVID-19, as any casual observer could see. In fact, Catalyst @ Health 2.0 built an entire version of our SourceDB database showing all the new COVID-19 products we tracked. But, it is a reasonable conclusion that companies with products in the market mostly did better than companies just coming to market and starting their sales cycles.
Regulation & Data Security: Not unrelated to the fact that our sponsors at Wipfli provide business process, regulatory advice and data security certification, we asked a long series of questions about those issues and other business processes. Perhaps the most interesting result was that knowledge about applicable regulations was significantly lower in “Early Stage” companies, with 61% of them either “just getting educated” or having a “fair to medium understanding”. “Mature” companies had either in-house staff (45%) or a “strong level of understanding”. However, while 70% of digital health companies reported being asked about data security by (potential) clients, only 25% had been certified by an outside body like HITRUST--suggesting that more needs to be done.
Dealing with the “New Normal”: When asked about the actual mechanics of running their businesses during COVID-19, digital health companies were very positive. 45% said that the transition to “Work from home” was smooth sailing, and 24% believe productivity went up, versus only 12% who felt that it diminished.
More importantly, digital health companies are very optimistic about the impact of COVID-19 on their business. 47% said it would be net positive and 40% believed it would dramatically improve their prospects. Not one company said that COVID-19 would overall be a long-term problem for their business. The contrast here to many other sectors of the economy could not be starker. This is despite the fact that more companies saw sales cycles increase (44%) rather than decrease (25%).
Funding & the Investment Climate: In a time when there are several $100m fundings announced seemingly daily, the first thing worth remembering about early stage companies in general and digital health in particular is that the venture capital spoils are not divided evenly. More than 25% of our sample had raised under $500K and 53% less than $5m. While the mean investor funding amount amongst the survey’s digital health companies was over $40m, the median was less than $4m. Many earlier stage companies felt that the typical VC did not have time or interest in something new or small.
Nonetheless, the mood is overall very optimistic, with 62% saying the investment climate has improved compared with before COVID-19. However, the bigger and later stage the company, the more likely they are to think the climate has improved--those $100m rounds are in general going to companies already scaling very fast! And for what it is worth, ALL the investors we asked thought that the investment climate for digital health companies has improved, and almost all thought their valuations had gone up. But, surprisingly, none of those investors said that the time they needed to make a decision had gone down--presumably they were all operating at lightning speed already? (We are not sure every company desperately wanting a VC to answer their email would agree!)
Some Final Thoughts: There is no question that on basically any measure, digital health companies are in much better shape and much more optimistic than they were pre-COVID-19. Most companies believe that the business and investment climate is much better than it would otherwise have been, and that their revenue and their products’ usage is substantially higher than they expected pre-COVID-19. But, there are clearly going to be headwinds; probably the biggest for most is that sales cycles have actually increased. And for the early stage companies, the huge funding rounds (and the even bigger VC fund raises that are going with them) mean that it can be harder for them to get the relatively small amounts they need to prove themselves before they are ready to scale.
WATCH NOW: The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health Webinar!
Special Event: The Catalyst @ Health 2.0/Wipfli Survey on the State of Digital Health Results Presentation
Presenting... The Health Tech Responds to COVID-19 Showcase Webinar! Now on Youtube!
Catalyst is excited to be hosting the Health Tech Responds to COVID-19 Showcase Webinar, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation! A little under 1 year ago, Catalyst, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, launched the "Health Tech Responds to COVID-19" platform to maximize the health tech community's response to the pandemic. The platform features an "Always on" Rapid Response Open Calls (RROCs); a blog/informational website to showcase innovators and experts in this space, and the development of a comprehensive database that allows the public to search and filter for innovative solutions - SourceDB for COVID-19. With RWJF's support, Catalyst has opened up the platform to the larger digital health ecosystem and sought organizations interested in sourcing novel technologies, both COVID-19-specific and those with a broader scope. In this video, we hear from some of our Rapid Response Open Call hosts and participants as well as some special guests as we discuss past, present, and future opportunities that have emerged with the global pandemic.
The 2nd Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call (RROC) - COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling
Just Launched: The 2nd Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call (RROC) - COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling
Attention digital health innovators! Do you have a health tech solution that can aid community-based care coordinators in COVID-19 vaccine screening and appointment scheduling for their underserved and vulnerable patients? Apply to the second Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call, hosted by Catalyst @ Health 2.0 & sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation!
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the importance of ensuring health equity and access is vital. This RROC is looking for solutions to help community care coordinators and providers schedule appointments for COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable and underserved patients who may be facing barriers to self-scheduling those vaccine appointments. The intended care providers are those working with patients who may lack resources, health literacy, or face other barriers to self-scheduling appointments. A select group of semi-finalists will have the opportunity to demo their technology. A grand prize winner will receive $15k and the opportunity to collaborate with Alliance for Better Health!
Do you have a solution that can fit this need? Apply HERE today! Applications close 2/2.
About Alliance for Better Health
Alliance for Better Health engages medical and social service providers in developing innovative solutions to promote people’s health, with a goal of transforming the care delivery system into one that incentivizes health and prevention. Established in 2015 as a Performing Provider System in the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program (DSRIP), Alliance partners with more than 2,000 providers and organizations across a six-county area in New York’s Tech Valley and Capital Region.
Announcing: Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Calls (RROCs)
Announcing: Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Calls (RROCs)
Catalyst @ Health 2.0 is proud to host TWO Rapid Response Open Calls (RROC) in collaboration with Alliance for Better Health, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Alliance for Better Health engages medical and social service providers in developing innovative solutions to promote people’s health, with a goal of transforming the care delivery system into one that incentivizes health and prevention.
The first RROC, which launched this past Tuesday, is seeking health tech tracking solutions to assist medical and social care providers in managing the two-phased vaccination administration for underserved & vulnerable and vulnerable populations. The intended public health providers are those working in or with FQHCs, homeless shelters, food pantries, substance abuse clinics, and/or related organizations with target populations that are most at risk of being lost to follow up.
In the second RROC, which opened today(!), Alliance For Better Health is requesting health tech solutions to aid community-based care coordinators in COVID-19 vaccine administration screening and appointment scheduling for underserved and vulnerable patient populations. The intended care providers are those working with patients who may lack resources, health literacy, or face other barriers to self-scheduling appointments.
Do you have a solution that can fit either of these needs? Each RROC has a grand prize of $15k! Apply HERE for the first RROC (vaccine administration tracking), and HERE for the second RROC (vaccine scheduling). Good luck!
About Alliance for Better Health
Alliance for Better Health engages medical and social service providers in developing innovative solutions to promote people’s health, with a goal of transforming the care delivery system into one that incentivizes health and prevention. Established in 2015 as a Performing Provider System in the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program (DSRIP), Alliance partners with more than 2,000 providers and organizations across a six-county area in New York’s Tech Valley and Capital Region.
Announcing: Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call (RROC) - Vaccination Administration Tracking
Announcing: Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call (RROC) - Vaccination Administration Tracking
Attention digital health innovators! Do you have a tracking tool that can assist public health care providers in managing the two-phased COVID-19 vaccination administration? Apply to the Alliance for Better Health Rapid Response Open Call for COVID-19 Vaccination Administration Tracking!
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the importance of ensuring health equity in #COVID19 vaccination administration for underserved & vulnerable populations is increasingly critical. Catalyst @ Health 2.0 is proud to host a Rapid Response Open Call (RROC) in collaboration with Alliance for Better Health with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A select group of semi-finalists will have the opportunity to demo their technology. A grand prize winner will receive $15k and the opportunity to collaborate with Alliance for Better Health!
Do you have a solution that can fit this need? Apply HERE today! Applications close 1/31.
About Alliance for Better Health
Alliance for Better Health engages medical and social service providers in developing innovative solutions to promote people’s health, with a goal of transforming the care delivery system into one that incentivizes health and prevention. Established in 2015 as a Performing Provider System in the New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program (DSRIP), Alliance partners with more than 2,000 providers and organizations across a six-county area in New York’s Tech Valley and Capital Region.
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review - The Winners of the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review
The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Winners
AS WE WAVE GOODBYE TO 2020, THE TEAM AT CATALYST @ HEALTH 2.0 IS SHARING SOME OF THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS IN A SERIES OF BLOG POSTS.
In partnership with Facebook Data for Good, the Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the Joint Program on Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies
Want to learn more about the Challenge as a whole? Take a look at our other blog post here.
The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge looked for novel analytic approaches that use COVID-19 Symptom Survey data to enable earlier detection and improved situational awareness of the outbreak. Challenge participants leveraged aggregated data from the COVID-19 Symptom Surveys conducted by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland, in partnership with Facebook, the largest and most detailed surveys ever conducted during a public health emergency, with over 25M responses recorded to date, across 200+ countries and territories and 55+ languages.
After months of hard work, DeepOutbreak, a team with members from Georgia Tech, the University of Iowa, and Virginia Tech, who created a framework for forecasting the domestic activity and trends in transmission of COVID-19 and symptomatically-similar illnesses, was declared the winner of the Challenge. Second place was awarded to K&A, a Russia-based team working with the World Bank and the Higher School of Economics, whose approach leveraged both the U.S. and global Symptom Survey datasets to explore the effectiveness of behavioral interventions on the spread of COVID-19 over time. As the winner of the Challenge, DeepOutbreak is awarded $50,000 and will have their analytic design featured on the Facebook Data for Good website and partner forums, including blogs and community websites. K&A receives $25,000 as the runner up.
See the videos below to watch these two teams present on their winning submissions:
You can learn more about the Challenge and watch presentations from the remaining finalists at the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge website, symptomchallenge.org.
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review - The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase Recap
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review
The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase Recap
AS WE WAVE GOODBYE TO 2020, THE TEAM AT CATALYST @ HEALTH 2.0 IS SHARING SOME OF THIS YEAR’S HIGHLIGHTS IN A SERIES OF BLOG POSTS.
In partnership with Facebook Data for Good, the Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the Joint Program on Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies
Launching in September 2020 and concluding at the end of the year, the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge looked for novel analytic approaches that use COVID-19 Symptom Survey data to enable earlier detection and improved situational awareness of the outbreak.
Challenge participants leveraged aggregated data from the COVID-19 Symptom Surveys conducted by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland, in partnership with Facebook, the largest and most detailed surveys ever conducted during a public health emergency, with over 25M responses recorded to date, across 200+ countries and territories and 55+ languages.
Phase I saw applications that encompassed more than 115 people (across every continent except Antarctica!) and 50 organizations including 35 academic institutions. Judges evaluated the entries based on Validity, Scientific Rigor, Impact, and User Experience before awarding five semi-finalists - CoronaSurveys, DeepOutbreak, K&A, Pathcheck, and the University of Washington Electrical and Computer Engineering/Computer Science and Engineering - $5,000 each and the opportunity to advance to Phase II, where these teams developed a prototype (simulation or visualization) using their analytic approach.
Following further evaluation and edits in Phase II, DeepOutbreak was declared the winner and K&A as the runner up of The COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge. As the winner of the Challenge, DeepOutbreak is awarded $50,000 and will have their analytic design featured on the Facebook Data for Good website and partner forums, including blogs and community websites. K&A receives $25,000 as the runner up.
(We highlight these teams more in a separate blog post located HERE.)
The winners and remaining three finalists (CoronaSurveys, Pathcheck, and the University of Washington ECE/CS & Engineering) presented their prototypes at the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase on Wednesday, December 16th, from 4-5:30pm ET, during a program that included distinguished speakers such as Dr. Tom Frieden, President & CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies, & former director of the CDC, Dr. Mark McClellan, director of the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, CEO of Aledade & former National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Kang-Xing Jin, Facebook's Head of Health. Chrissy Farr, Principal and Health-Tech Lead at OMERS Ventures and former technology and health reporter for CNBC.com, served as emcee.
Watch the Showcase in full here:
Re-Introducing: SourceDB
Re-Introducing: SourceDB
Catalyst @ Health 2.0 proudly presents SourceDB, our newly redesigned health tech database.
Tracking thousands of startups and established companies, individuals, and products, SourceDB has been developed to empower individuals, healthcare providers, and others to identify and leverage digital health solutions - especially during COVID-19.
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise daily, access to digital health solutions has become increasingly important. Catalyst @ Health 2.0 (“Catalyst”) is excited to relaunch SourceDB, a searchable database where you can filter through the latest in digital health solutions by geographic location, product type, and more. This centralized database houses information on health tech companies and products tailored to your needs.
The Catalyst team felt an urgent need to support the health tech community’s response to COVID-19, and as a result created covid19healthtech.com as a platform to track the industry and amplify the voices of experts and startups working in this space. The platform has evolved into SourceDB, which grants access not only to exclusive Catalyst digital health news and content, but also to a searchable database that features 250+ companies, products, and experts involved in the response to COVID. This database encompasses resources, products, companies, and more, focusing on 12 different categories applicable to COVID response.
Watch Catalyst’s co-founders, Indu Subaiya and Matthew Holt as they demo the site and give a sneak peek into what’s in store for the site in 2021:
This pandemic has not only shifted our current normality, but will continue to forge a new approach to health care and every other facet of our lives. With SourceDB, we are proud to present a database with information on innovative products ranging from at-home testing and contact tracing, to mental health support and so much more. We hope that through this streamlined platform, we can empower everyone to identify and use digital health technologies that are customized to your specific needs.
Registration is free, so sign up today and get ready for the many exciting features we plan to roll out very soon!
This database is brought to you with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review - The RWJF Emergency Response Innovation Challenges Winner Interviews
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review
The RWJF Emergency Response for the Health Care System and General Public Innovation Challenges Recap
As we wave goodbye to 2020, the team at Catalyst @ Health 2.0 is sharing some of this year’s highlights in a series of blog posts.
On November 19th, six teams competed in a virtual pitch event for the finals of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Emergency Response for the General Public and for the Health Care System Innovation Challenges. The teams - binformed | covidata, CovidSMS, and Fresh EBT by Propel for the General Public Challenge and Path Check, Qventus, and Tiatros, Inc., for the Health Care System Challenge - presented in front of expert judging panels, who evaluated the entries on impact, UX/UI, innovation/creativity, scalability and strength of presentation. (You can see the demos for all teams here)
Qventus was declared the winner of the RWJF Emergency Response for the Health Care System Innovation Challenge and received $25,000.
Meanwhile, binformed | covidata and CovidSMS tied for first place in the RWJF Emergency Response for the General Public Challenge and were each awarded $17,500.
After they had a chance to catch their breath and enjoy their wins, Catalyst caught back up with the three winning teams - hear the winners’ reflections below:
binformed | covidata - RWJF Emergency Response for the General Public Innovation Challenge Winner’s Interview
CovidSMS - RWJF Emergency Response for the General Public Innovation Challenge Winner’s Interview
Qventus - RWJF Emergency Response for the Health Care System Innovation Challenge Winner’s Interview
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review - The RWJF Emergency Response for the Health Care System and General Public Innovation Challenges Recap
Catalyst @ Health 2.0: A Year in Review
The RWJF Emergency Response for the Health Care System and General Public Innovation Challenges Recap
As we wave goodbye to 2020, the team at Catalyst @ Health 2.0 is sharing some of this year’s highlights in a series of blog posts.
In mid-June, Catalyst launched the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Emergency Response Innovation Challenges. These Challenges, one for the General Public and one for the Health Care System, asked innovators to develop a health technology tool to support the needs of individuals as well as health care systems affected by a large-scale health crisis, such as a pandemic or natural disaster.
The Challenges saw a record number of applications— nearly 125 applications were submitted to the General Public Challenge and over 130 applications were submitted to the Health Care System Challenge. Over the course of several months and with the help of experts and industry leaders who evaluated the submissions, these applications were narrowed down to five and then again until only three teams per Challenge remained. These teams were:
Emergency Response for the General Public Finalists:
Binformed Covidata- Binformed is a clinically-driven comprehensive desktop + mobile infectious disease, epidemic + pandemic management tool targeting suppression and containment of diseases such as COVID-19.
CovidSMS- CovidSMS is a text message-based platform providing city-specific information and resources to help low-income communities endure COVID-19.
Fresh EBT by Propel- A technology tool for SNAP families to address food insecurity & economic vulnerability in times of crisis.
Emergency Response for the Health Care System Finalists:
Path Check- Path Check provides privacy first, free, open source solutions for public health to supplement manual contact tracing, visualize hot spots, and interfaces with citizen-facing privacy first apps.
Qventus- Qventus is a patient flow automation solution that applies AI / ML and behavioral science to help health systems optimize resources for Covid, create effective capacity, and reduce frontline burnout.
Tiatros Inc- The first mental health and social support platform that combines clinical expertise, peer communities and scalable technology to advance mental wellbeing and to sustain meaningful behavioral change.
These six teams competed in the finals, a virtual pitch event, on November 19th in front of expert judging panels, who evaluated the entries on impact, UX/UI, innovation/creativity, scalability and strength of presentation. (Also re-introduced during this event was Catalyst’s SourceDB, a health tech tracking database - more on that in a separate blog post here!)
In the Health Care System Innovation Challenge, judges awarded first, second, and third place to Qventus, Path Check, and Tiatros, Inc., respectively, with these teams receiving, in order, $25,000, $15,000, and $5,000. However, there was a tie for first in the General Public Innovation Challenge between binformed | covidata and CovidSMS. These two teams split the first and second place prizes and received $17,500 each, and Fresh EBT by Propel in third place received $5,000.
See the demos from all six teams below!
Health Care System:
General Public:
Missed the event? View the full recording below:
We follow up with the winners of the Challenges in a separate blog post here
To learn more about the two Challenges, please visit the Challenge websites, bit.ly/genpublicresponse and bit.ly/healthcareresponse
COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase Event, Dec 16 4pm ET
After receiving applications from 115 people (across every continent except Antarctica!) and 50 organizations, including 35 academic institutions, the judges have declared DeepOutbreak, a team with members from Georgia Tech, the University of Iowa, and Virginia Tech as the winner of COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge.
Second place was awarded to K&A, a Russia-based team working with the World Bank and the Higher School of Economics. $75,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winners.
The winners and the other three finalists will present their prototypes at the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase on Wednesday, December 16th, from 4-5:30pm ET. Register here!
The program's distinguished speakers include
Dr. Tom Frieden, President & CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies & former director of the CDC
Dr. Mark McClellan, director of the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, CEO of Aledade & former National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department of Health and Human Services, and
Kang-Xing Jin, Facebook's Head of Health.
Chrissy Farr, Principal and Health-Tech Lead at OMERS Ventures and former technology and health reporter for CNBC.com, will serve as emcee.
Register for the COVID-19 Symptom Data Challenge Showcase on Wednesday, December 16th, from 4-5:30pm ET here
RWJF Emergency Response Challenge Winners!
Three finalists each for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Emergency Response for the Health Care System and General Public Innovation Challenges competed in a virtual pitch event last Thursday, November 19th! They presented their solutions to an audience of investors, provider organizations, health plans, tech companies, foundations, government officials and members of the media. During the pitch, a judge panel selected the first, second, and third place winners based on impact, UX/UI, innovation/creativity, scalability and strength of presentation.
Catalyst is proud to announce the winners of last week’s event!
Health Care System Innovation Challenge Winners
First Place: Qventus - $25,000
Second Place: Path Check - $10,000
Third Place: Tiatros Inc - $5,000
General Public Innovation Challenge Winners
First Place (tie): Binformed Covidata - $18,500
First Place (tie): CovidSMS - $18,500
Third Place: Fresh EBT by Propel - $5,000
The Emergency Response Innovation Challenges asked innovators to develop a health technology tool to support the needs of individuals as well as health care systems affected by a large-scale health crisis, such as a pandemic or natural disaster. The Challenges saw a record number of applications— nearly 125 applications were submitted to the General Public Challenge and over 130 applications were submitted to the Health Care System Challenge. 5 semifinalists were selected before being narrowed down to 3 finalists for each challenge.
To learn more about the Health Care System Innovation Challenge, click here
To learn more about the General Public Innovation Challenge, click here.
For further updates on the finalists of the RWJF Emergency Response Innovation Challenges and other programs, please subscribe to the Catalyst @ Health 2.0 Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter @catalyst_h20.
Announcing: RWJF Emergency Response Innovation Challenges Finalists and Open Registration for Virtual Pitch Event!
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has underscored the need for efficient and innovative emergency response. Major health organizations, such as the American Hospital Association, have provided resources that can be utilized for organizational preparedness, caring for patients, and enabling the workforce during the pandemic.
As COVID-19 brought to light the lack of emergency response preparedness in the health care system, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Catalyst saw an opportunity to highlight digital health’s potential to support health care stakeholders and the general public. RWJF and Catalyst partnered to launch two Innovation Challenges on Emergency Response for the General Public and Emergency Response for the Health Care System.
The Emergency Response Innovation Challenges asked innovators to develop a health technology tool to support the needs of individuals as well as health care systems affected by a large-scale health crisis, such as a pandemic or natural disaster. The Challenges saw a record number of applications— nearly 125 applications were submitted to the General Public Challenge and over 130 applications were submitted to the Health Care System Challenge.
An expert panel of judges across the health tech, venture capital, design, and emergency response industries evaluated the entries and selected three finalists from each challenge to compete at a virtual pitch hosted by Catalyst @ Health 2.0 on Thursday, November 19th at 10am PT/1pm ET. Registration for this event is now open! RSVP for the pitch event HERE.
Finalists will present their solutions to an audience of investors, provider organizations, health plans, tech companies, foundations, government officials and members of the media. During the pitch, a judge panel will select the first, second, and third place winner based on impact, UX/UI, innovation/creativity, scalability and strength of presentation. The winners will be awarded $25,000 for first place, $15,000 for second place, and $5,000 for third place. To learn more about the finalists, click on the links listed below, and to RSVP for the pitch event, click HERE.
Emergency Response for the General Public Finalists:
Fresh EBT by Propel- A technology tool for SNAP families to address food insecurity & economic vulnerability in times of crisis.
CovidSMS- CovidSMS is a text message-based platform providing city-specific information and resources to help low-income communities endure COVID-19.
Binformed Covidata- Binformed is a clinically-driven comprehensive desktop + mobile infectious disease, epidemic + pandemic management tool targeting suppression and containment of diseases such as COVID-19.
Emergency Response for the Health Care System Finalists:
Qventus- Qventus is a patient flow automation solution that applies AI / ML and behavioral science to help health systems optimize resources for Covid, create effective capacity, and reduce frontline burnout.
Path Check- Path Check provides privacy first, free, open source solutions for public health to supplement manual contact tracing, visualize hot spots, and interfaces with citizen-facing privacy first apps.
Tiatros Inc- The first mental health and social support platform that combines clinical expertise, peer communities and scalable technology to advance mental wellbeing and to sustain meaningful behavioral change.
For further updates on the RWJF Emergency Response for the General Public and Emergency Response for the Health Care System Challenge and other programs, subscribe to the Catalyst @ Health 2.0 Newsletter, and follow Catalyst on Twitter @catalyst_h20.
