Froedtert Health and AVIA Join Forces to Transform Healthcare Through Innovation
Relationship aims to improve care and reinvent the consumer
experience
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#digitalhealth–Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health, a member of the AVIA Innovator
Network, is expanding its relationship with AVIA by making an equity
investment and joining AVIA’s board of directors. The deeper partnership
will speed the Wisconsin health network’s transformation efforts.
“We have made a commitment to transform how healthcare is delivered, and
in particular, to improve the consumer experience,” said Cathy Jacobson,
president and CEO of Froedtert Health. “We recognize that some of the
smartest people and the best ideas come from outside our own health
system. To capitalize on this we did two things: We created a new
organization called Inception Health and we established a partnership
with AVIA, which we are now expanding through this equity investment.”
Through Inception Health, Froedtert Health led AVIA’s most recent
investment round as a “member-owner.” Additional member-owners
participating in the round include long-standing partners and healthcare
leaders: Providence
Health & Services, which led AVIA’s previous round, OSF
HealthCare, and Rush University Medical Center.
“AVIA’s model and recent success has encouraged a number of our members
to strengthen their relationship with an investment in our company,”
said Eric Langshur, CEO and co-founder of AVIA. “Having the financial
backing of our health system members is further validation that AVIA has
the right approach to accelerating healthcare transformation. We will
use the funding to further scale our provider network and drive adoption
of technology solutions that solve healthcare challenges.”
AVIA is the innovation partner to the nation’s forward-leaning health
systems. They are members of the AVIA
Innovator Network, working together to address shared challenges
such as patient satisfaction and post-acute care. AVIA helps its members
translate their strategic challenges into action through accelerated
technology adoption. Their unique combination of collaboration and
disciplined process enables members to identify and implement solutions
at a faster pace with lower risk.
“Not only does AVIA have the right process for finding the signal in the
noise – identifying new companies with real solutions to our problems –
but they also help us identify barriers and map our internal innovation
process to make it more efficient,” said Peter Pruessing, president of
Inception Health. “AVIA is a great partner in helping us achieve
transformative change within our health system.”
Inception Health serves as an innovation engine for Froedtert & the
Medical College of Wisconsin health network; its purpose is to improve
health outcomes and enhance consumer interactions. Inception Health
focuses on the rapid testing and scaling of digital health solutions
across the health network and beyond. The AVIA partnership acts as a
super highway for bringing a consumer-driven, or “outside-in,” approach
to the Froedtert & MCW health network, including the technologies and
processes that support it. Leveraging AVIA, the health network can
engage with national thought leaders and innovators across the industry
to accelerate its own transformation to more consumer-driven healthcare.
According to Langshur, while many health systems recognize that
innovation is an imperative, the path to adoption and scale is complex.
As a result, health system members are increasingly relying on AVIA to
act as their transformation partner. This includes technology sourcing
and implementation planning, as well as strategic opportunity mapping
and innovation competency building.
“Our members have data points – pilots, successes, and lessons learned –
around the adoption and scale of emerging technologies. Our goal is to
harness all of that knowledge and share it across the network so
collectively, they move faster,” said Langshur.
Some of the areas that Inception Health is exploring with AVIA include
patient experience, post-acute care, and behavioral health.
About AVIA
AVIA is the innovation partner to the nation’s forward-leaning health
systems. We help health systems advance from strategy to action –
accelerating their pace of healthcare transformation. The AVIA Innovator
Network brings providers together to solve shared challenges that are
ripe for technology innovation. Our collaborative model drives a
rigorous process to identify, implement, and scale innovations. The
result? Health systems shorten their innovation cycles – taking on more
opportunities with better results. Learn more at www.aviahealthinnovation.com.
Follow us on LinkedIn
and Twitter.
About Inception Health
Formed in 2015, Inception Health LLC is the hub of Froedtert Health’s
strategies to reposition the health care system through innovation and
digital health services. As the axis for digital health services and
technology, innovation partnerships and strategic investment, Inception
Health strives to reinvent the consumer experience, reduce the cost of
health care, improve the health of individuals and communities, and
scale solutions across the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin
health network. Inception Health facilitates innovation both by working
within the Froedtert & MCW health network and by collaborating with
technology companies and other partners outside the network to rapidly
test and scale digital health solutions. Learn more at www.inceptionhealth.com.
About Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin
The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin regional health network
is a partnership between Froedtert Health and the Medical College of
Wisconsin. It comprises eastern Wisconsin’s only academic medical
center, Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee; and Community Memorial Hospital,
Menomonee Falls, and St. Joseph’s Hospital, West Bend. The health
network also includes more than 2,000 physicians across 25 primary and
specialty clinical locations representing the collaboration of
Wisconsin’s largest multispecialty physician practice with a
community-based physician group. The network’s three hospitals have 784
staffed beds, nearly 40,000 annual admissions and more than 930,000
annual outpatient visits. Froedtert & MCW network physicians have more
than 750,000 annual patient visits at its health centers and clinics.
For more information, visit www.froedtert.com.
Contacts
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin
Kathy Sieja
Media
Relations Director
414.805.2618
kathy.sieja@froedtert.com
or
AVIA
Nicole
Winokur
Director of Marketing
312.999.9600
nwinokur@aviahealthinnovation.com
