New York health IT accelerator announces first 8 seed companies

Today the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) and the Partnership for New York City Fund (Partnership Fund) revealed the inaugural class of the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA). The partnership is the largest-funded health IT accelerator program in the United States, and the first to provide access to senior-level healthcare providers who are committed to the success of the eight growth-stage companies selected. This is the next stage in a plan supported by Governor Cuomo to make New York a health IT hub.

As CivSource reported earlier this year, New York announced a sweeping initiative to focus on attracting health technology providers into the state and has assembled a group of stakeholders in order to make that happen. The accelerator class is one of the first projects of this plan. According to accelerator leaders, with its initial investment of $4.2 million, the NYDHA program will create approximately 1,500 jobs over five years. In addition, it is expected that the companies will attract upwards of $150 million to $200 million in investment from the venture capital community post-program.

The program has selected 8 early- and growth-stage companies that are developing cutting-edge technology products in care coordination, patient engagement, analytics and message alerts for healthcare providers. The program received 250 applications from companies located in 27 states and 10 countries. Each chosen company is awarded up to $300,000 along with invaluable mentoring from senior-level executives at leading hospitals and other providers in New York for nine months. Each company has committed to opening an office in New York State. Companies chosen for the program will also receive mentorship from local technology industry leaders.

Companies will also have companies have direct access to the technology platform that is connecting electronic health records across New York State, the Statewide Health Information Network of New York (SHIN-NY). The investment capital was provided by a syndicate of investors, including Aetna, Janssen Healthcare Innovation, Milestone Venture Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Partnership for New York City Fund, Quaker Partners, Safeguard Scientifics, and UnitedHealth Group. The Empire State Development Corporation, Health Research Inc., and NYeC have provided additional funds to operate the NYDHA.

The eight companies chosen for the first class are:

  • AdhereTx which provides point-of-care medication management software;
  • Aidin a post-care referral platform;
  • Avado an electronic health records communication platform between doctors and patients;
  • CipherHealth which helps hospitals avoid preventable readmissions of patients;
  • MedCPU which delivers accurate real-time clinical care advice using its Advisor Button technology;
  • Remedy Systems a care coordination platform, and
  • SpectraMD which leverages business intelligence analytics for health care.

“The Accelerator provides much-needed, valuable tools for providers in support of New York State’s Medicaid Redesign initiative,” New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah, M.D., M.P.H. said. “The initiative, which promotes a shift from the costly fee-for-service model to a more effective and efficient managed care approach, is resulting in better care – at lower cost – for patients across the continuum of care.”