Two digital health companies focused on improving consumer engagement in hospitals and health systems were named the winners of the recent HX360 Innovation Challenge.
Ginger.io and WiserCare were among four finalists invited to pitch their platforms at the HIMSS15 Conference and Exhibition earlier this month in Chicago. Those four were selected from a field of 83 entries by HX360.
Recently launched by HIMSS and AVIA, a provider-led healthcare accelerator, HX360 highlights next-generation, non-EHR technologies that aim to "improve care delivery, collaborations that optimize the innovation cycle in healthcare technology, and the processes and structures that health systems will require to leverage those technologies."
Both winners in HX360's inaugural Innovation Challenge are familiar names in mHealth circles. Ginger.io uses sensor data collected through a smartphone and consumer-reported information to create a behavioral health profile, which can be used by consumers as well as providers. WiserCare, meanwhile, gathers clinical data, quality of life preferences and treatment goals to map out a user's best treatment plan, which is shared between the user and the provider.
"Ginger.io and WiserCare presented true innovation and demonstrate how their technology solutions can improve the patient experience and add value to our healthcare system," HX360 CEO Roy Smythe, MD, said in a press release. "Our congratulations to the winning companies and the other finalists. It was an impressive field of applicants."
Judging was based on several criteria centered on consumer engagement, including patient satisfaction, better access to health information, patient empowerment, patient convenience and access to care, proof of positive impact and market readiness. Technical criteria included interoperability, workflow impact, user interface and scalability.
The two companies will be given access to $75,000 in prize money and legal assistance in funding pilot programs for their technology in non-profit U.S. health systems selected by AVIA.
Also competing in the innovation challenge were WellFrame and ClockwiseMD.
