Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1284464
26 INNOVATION 12 interesting health IT, innovation partnerships in 2020 By Laura Dyrda T he COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped hospitals and health systems from developing interesting partner- ships with tech companies and other organi- zations to deliver better care. In some instances, the pandemic accelerated the need for new types of collaborations in healthcare. Here are 12 of the most innovative partnerships from Jan. 1 to July 16: 1. Baptist Health South Florida in Coral Gables, Fla., partnered with home develop- er CC Homes in July to provide free virtual healthcare services and digital exam kits to new homebuyers. e Banner Health Digi- tal Health Kits are powered by TytoCare and include unlimited virtual urgent care visits, a personal exam device, infrared digital ther- mometer and adapters to record ears, throat, heart and lungs. 2. Walmart has been moving further into the healthcare space, and on July 7 it partnered with pharmacy benefit manager Capital Rx to adopt its drug pricing framework for specialty and mail-order prescriptions. Capital Rx has a cloud-based technology platform that provides real-time information about drug unit prices. 3. Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health partnered with Paladina Health to offer di- rect-to-employer primary care across its 137 hospitals in 21 states. e partnership will provide membership-based primary care ser- vices at clinics in Las Vegas initially and then expand to other markets. Paladin already provides services to 122 clinics in 19 states. 4. On June 17, Epic partnered with five Chi- cago-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans to launch a new health information ex- change platform that aims to ease the com- munication between insurers, providers and patients. e new Payer Platform operates through Epic and establishes two-way infor- mation exchange between Health Care Ser- vice Corp., the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans, and providers. 5. On May 8, Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health entered into a strategic part- nership with Ensemble Health Partners to develop a new regional operations center in the Appalachian Highlands that will employ up to 500 people and serve several hospitals and healthcare organizations. e new center aims to support IT and revenue cycle systems. 6. Google and Apple announced they would team up to help governments and health agencies track COVID-19 spread using Blue- tooth technology in early April. e two com- panies launched application programming interfaces that made Android and iOS mo- bile devices interoperable so they could track contact between individuals and notify users if they came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. e technolo- gy is opt-in and has not been widely adopted in the U.S., but was revolutionary in moving forward interoperability. 7. Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare partnered with Israel Innovation Authority in March. e Israel Innovation Authority funds organi- zations that support new product and technol- ogy development, and Hartford HealthCare aims to use the funding to bring new startups and technologies to the system for further test- ing and development. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health have partnered with IIA in the past. 8. Emory Healthcare in Atlanta partnered with Verizon to test 5G-powered healthcare devices, including connected ambulances, medical im- aging and remote physical therapy. e part- nership was announced on Feb. 28 to launch a 5G ultra-wideband network within Emo- ry Healthcare Innovation Lab. Verizon also agreed to provide nine innovation hub part- ners network and security services, including project management and infrastructure. 9. United Airlines tapped Cleveland Clinic to advise on social distancing protocols during flights. e airline partnered with Cleveland Clinic and Clorox on May 20 aer a physi- cian tweeted a photo of every seat full on the plane. However, United's CEO said during a conference eight days later, "If you look at an airplane, airplanes don't have social distancing. Six feet — we're not going to be 6 feet apart." 10. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston partnered with Google Cloud and ProofPilot in February to enhance its digi- tal clinical trial platform. e soware will be integrated into the HIPAA-compliant Google Cloud server and implement Goo- gle's data products designed around FHIR interoperability standards. 11. On July 14, UnitedHealth Group's Op- tum announced its partnership with Boulder (Colo.) Community Health to manage the nonprofit health system's data analytics and revenue cycle functions. e partnership will allow the health system, which has financial challenges, to stay independent, and 275 Boulder Community Health employees will become Optum employees as a result of the transition. 12. Cleveland-based University Hospi- tals partnered with NASA to create tech- nologies and methods to decontaminate personal protective equipment for aero- space applications and COVID-19 front- line workers. e system's venture capital arm, UH Ventures, facilitated the partner- ship to develop new approaches to sani- tizing masks on site and reusing them. n Cleveland Clinic Florida launches immuno-oncology and infectious disease-focused innovation center By Katie Adams C leveland Clinic Florida on July 8 opened the St. Lucie-based Florida Research and Innovation Center, established to facilitate translational research on immuno-oncology and infectious diseases. Researchers will pilot projects at the center to address local and international health threats, such as pathogens and cancer. They will collaborate with two other Cleveland Clinic centers — the Center for Global and Emerging Patho- gens Research and the Lerner Research Institute's Center for Therapeutics Dis- covery — to discover new treatments. Michaela Gack, PhD, serves as the scientific director of the innovation center. She is a virologist whose previous research centers on the immune system's reaction to viral agents. n