Advocate Aurora Health has entered a partnership with MATTER, a Chicago-based health care incubator and innovation hub, in an effort to drive entrepreneurship in health care delivery.
Under the new collaboration, the two organizations are launching a nationwide competition called the Health Tech Venture Challenge that will invite entrepreneurs to create new solutions to challenges in primary care delivery.
The Health Tech Venture Challenge will offer one startup a $10,000 cash prize and curated sessions with experts based on its needs. Advocate Aurora Health, which has dual headquarters in Downers Grove, Illinois and Milwaukee, will also consider opportunities with contest finalists to further develop and pilot technologies at its more than 500 sites in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Technologies of interest include telehealth, patient portals, mobile clinical decision support, wearables and IoT, artificial intelligence and big data. Interested companies can apply on the MATTER website.
“Technology and innovation will drive the future of health and wellness, and this collaboration helps to accelerate the development of a health tech ecosystem that is reimagining care delivery,” said Jim Skogsbergh, Advocate Aurora Health president and CEO. “This gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to partner with our health system in ways that will directly benefit the health care consumers we’re so privileged to serve.”
Advocate Aurora Health has also made a commitment to startups locally. The health system was one of four corporations that in August signed on to contribute $25 million each to a Wisconn Valley Venture Fund that will be headquartered in Milwaukee and invest in technology startups globally. Last year, Aurora formed a $5 million corporate venture fund called InvestMKE, which last month made its first investment in Milwaukee startup Ideawake.
Leaders of Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care have said their combined entity, which is the 10th largest nonprofit health care system in the United States, allows for greater strength and financial flexibility to scale innovation.
