Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1405817
41 INNOVATION Where 13 health systems are investing their innovation dollars this year By Katie Adams B elow is a list of investments that health systems made in digital health startups and internal innovation from Jan. 1 to June 30. 1. Ascension Ventures, the healthcare venture arm of St. Louis-based Ascension, closed a $285 million strategic venture capital fund, bringing the firm's total assets to more than $1 billion. e fund is backed by 13 health system partners and is Ascension Ventures' fih venture capital fund. Ascension' Ventures also invested in Strive Health, a health tech company providing kidney care, during a $140 million series B financing round. 2. New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health awarded $1.3 million to four innovation projects spearheaded by employees as part of the health system's 2021 Innovation Challenge. Automated virtual care and communication platform Conversa increased its series B fi- nancing round Jan. 19 to $20 million, up from $12 million in June 2020, led by Northwell Health Ventures. Northwell co-led Conver- sa's series B financing round alongside Build- ers VC. University Hospitals' venture arm is also an investor. 3. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic led an $8.2 million funding round for TripleBlind, a digital privacy and data sharing platform. Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente an- nounced their joint strategic investment in Medically Home Group, a Boston-based tech services company that powers hospi- tal-at-home programs. 4. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Ventures participated in a $65 million funding round for Vesta Healthcare, a digital health and clinical provider group platform. 5. Providence's digital health spinout DexCare closed a $20 million investment round backed by the Renton, Wash.-based health system's in- novation arm and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. 6. Cleveland Clinic launched an infectious disease research center through a $500 mil- lion innovation collaboration with the city of Cleveland and JobsOhio. Cleveland Clinic will put up $300 million in funds while Job- sOhio will invest $200 million. 7. Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital, both based in Columbus, joined a $1 billion innovation district in Co- lumbus focused on virus, pathogens, stem cell therapies and cancer research. Ohio State will invest $650 million, Nationwide Children's Hospital will invest $350 million and JobsO- hio will invest $100 million in the project. 8. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain pur- chased Classic Air Medical, an air medical transport company, to bolster its telehealth and digital services. e acquisition will allow providers to expand their telehealth offerings while making it easier to transport patients in rural locations to medical facilities that are best equipped to meet their needs. 9. Miami-based Baptist Health South Florida launched a healthcare technology innovation fellowship to foster development of new prod- ucts and interventions in healthcare. It will match a $1 million grant from the Knight Foundation to fund the fellowship. 10. Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health and Mercy Fort Smith invested $1 million in a healthcare sciences innovation center for students in the Fort Smith, Ark., area. 11. Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health part- nered with Healthworx, the innovation and investment arm of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, to launch an incubator, dubbed 1501 Health, that will provide startup com- panies developing healthcare technolo- gies and innovations with up to $100,000 in investment. 12. Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare partici- pated in a $43 million funding round for Cur- rent Health, a remote care management plat- form used by various health systems including New York City-based Mount Sinai Health Sys- tem and Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health. 13. Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Net- work innovation hub AlphaLab Health wel- comed seven companies to the first class at its business accelerator. e companies receive an investment of up to $100,000 in exchange for a convertible note granting up to 2 percent equity in the company. n Johns Hopkins spinoff launches clinical risk prediction platform By Jackie Drees B ayesian Health, a health data startup created by Johns Hopkins researcher Suchi Saria, PhD, launched its artificial intelligence-powered clinical deci- sion support platform on the commercial market July 12. Bayesian's AI platform works in conjunction with a hospital's EHR, analyzing available patient data and applying its AI and machine learning models to make clinical predictions in areas including clinical deterioration, sepsis, pres- sure injury and care transitions. The platform sends clinical signals within existing workflows when a critical moment is detected, which helps physicians and care team members accu- rately diagnose, intervene and deliver timely care. Bayesian is based on tech- nology licensed from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and has a foundation built on more than 21 patents and peer-reviewed research papers. Bayesian's sepsis module drove 1.85-hour faster antibiotic treatment for sepsis, according to a five-site study run by Johns Hopkins researchers and published in MedRxiv. Bayesian's sepsis prediction model also showed high buy-in from physicians and nurses, with an 89 percent adoption rate, according to the study. The company has raised $15 million in venture funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to a news release. n