This morning the Mayo Clinic announced that it is teaming up with technology company Leidos to build an accelerator on the former’s Jacksonville, Florida campus. The new accelerator will be using Leidos’ integration systems and applied public health applications. The goal is to develop and commercialize products. 

"The shared values and deep passion for transforming healthcare make this collaboration a powerful force for the advancement of innovative methods and quick translation of these solutions across the health care ecosystem," Jon Scholl, Leidos health group president, said in a statement. "The clinical knowledge of the Mayo Clinic combined with our technical expertise has the potential to truly transform the quality of healthcare in the future.”

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On Tuesday philanthropic organization Save the Children announced that it has selected EarlySense, a maker of contact-free continuous monitoring products, to participate in a new pilot program. The pilot, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will use the EarlySense system to monitor neonates in Nairobi, Kenya. 

"EarlySense's contact-free continuous monitoring technology is a novel approach in newborn care," Rasa Izadnegahdar, deputy director on the Maternal Newborn Child Health Discovery & Tools team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement. "We look forward to the evaluation by Save the Children and using the results to inform best practices in the clinical care of vulnerable newborns born in low and middle-income countries."

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Thanks to a new CMS rule supporting more non-medical support services, Lyft announced today in a blog post that it will be expanding two existing partnerships to bring company’s non-emergency medical transport (NEMT) service to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

The first builds on a roughly 19-month relationships with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and will provide NEMT to certain BCBS MA plans by the summer. The second expands an ongoing collaboration between Lyft and NEMT broker and coordinator Logisticare, and will see the joint platform come to some Humana MA plan members.

“We know that scaling investments and partnerships for innovative transportation models will improve health outcomes, decrease costs for patients, payers, and the government, and combat social isolation,” the company wrote in the post. “We look forward to partnering with MA plans around the country to leverage the flexibility provided by CMS to test and make these new models a reality for patients.”

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Bright.md has released a new depression and anxiety product that was developed in partnership with Ozer and providers at Kaiser Permanente. The platform provides asynchronous virtual treatment for major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder or adjustment disorders. Patients are able to answer a questionnaire about their symptoms and medical history. This info is then sent to a provider, who can write up a provisional diagnosis and potential treatment plan. 

"Our new behavioral health module employs the same screening tools physicians use during in-person interviews. Then those insights drive a comprehensive, adaptive clinical interview that supports diagnosis, treatment, and if appropriate, initiation of prescription medications and referral to a behavioral health practitioner," Dr. Ray Costantini, cofounder and CEO of Bright.md, said in a statement. "Although this is only the first step in taking care of their mental health, simply having a diagnosis and a plan can be empowering for the millions of patients who have been reluctant or unable to seek help before.”

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MobileSmith Health has teamed up with Isabel Healthcare to develop a new pediatrics app. The new app called Baptist4Kids will be deployed in The Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Through the app parents will get access to resources on how to raise a healthy child. 

"Whether it be to look up medical conditions, check symptoms or keep track of upcoming appointments, patients want the ability to access trusted resources at their fingertips. This is especially important for parents when it comes to their child's care,"  Randy Tomlin, MobileSmith Health CEO and chairman of the board, said in a statement. "That's why hospitals like Baptist Children's are turning to mobile apps as a means of engaging with patients to establish long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with parents who will continually turn to the Baptist4Kids app throughout their child's growth and development."

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This morning Mobile Heartbeat, a healthcare communication and workflow company, inked a deal with pCare, a healthcare IT company. The pair will now be integrating Mobile Heartbeat’s clinical communication smartphone app MH-CURE with pCare’s Interactive Patient System Platform. 

“Patient care teams understandably change due to staff scheduling, which can confuse and frustrate patients, adding stress to their hospital stay,” Mike Detjen, COO at Mobile Heartbeat, said in a statement. “Through the MH-CURE and pCare integration, patients can always see who is on their care team, make requests that are sent to the appropriate person and view the status of their request.”