News from Mass Digital Health - April 2021 |
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Clinton Global Initiative Supports
‘Community Health Equity Innovation Lab’ in Massachusetts
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On April 15th, the Clinton Global Initiative announced a new ‘Commitment to Action’ to support a new health equity effort led by Boston-based Harbor Health, to develop a new innovation lab focused on bringing technology into community health centers.
Harbor Health will work with leading Massachusetts organizations from digital health, entrepreneurship, and healthcare, including Babson College, the Mass. eHealth Institute at MassTech, and Baystate Health in Springfield.
The news was launched as part of a two-day forum focused on “Expanding the Future of Work Today: Equitable and Inclusive Jobs for All.”
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Keva Health Wins COVID-19 Connect Tech
Innovation Challenge
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On April 9th, a panel of independent expert judges declared Lexington’s Keva Health the winner of the Massachusetts COVID-19 Connect Tech Innovation Challenge.
Led by CEO Jyotsna Mehta, Keva won the grand prize for their Asthma Advisor product, an app that empowers patients to manage their own care via access to their doctors and care plans, the ability to track peak flow, and educational resources about asthma treatments. The company took home a $40,000 grand prize.
The first runner-up was Boston's Thrive Community, developers of software to help family caregivers stay better connected with their loved ones, receiving a $10,000 prize.
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Two Mass. Digital Health Projects Win
U.S. Department of Commerce Grants
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Three Massachusetts organizations were awarded grants, including two that focus on digital health and related technologies:
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The Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech (listed as the Mass. Technology Park Corp.) was awarded $682,800 to work with Lever, an innovation hub in North Adams, on the Massachusetts Digital Health COVID-19 Recovery Challenge, a program aimed at accelerating digital health innovations to support family caregivers and healthcare providers in Massachusetts; and
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The University of Massachusetts Lowell was awarded $750,000 for the IMPACT Project to "develop health security and biomedical technologies that provide rapid feedback to both caregivers and patients in order to effect timely changes in patient self-care, symptom detection, diagnosis, and treatment delivery."
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Now Open!
Stipends for Summer Interns
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If you are hiring interns this summer you will want to take advantage of the MassTech Intern Partnership. Massachusetts companies can be reimbursed for up to 50% of an intern's hourly wage (up to $8 per hour) for a total of $3,200/year per individual intern.
Digital health companies may apply for up to three interns in 2021. Learn more!
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Mass Digital Health Roundup |
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Two 'nurse inventors' from UMass Amherst, Karen Giuliano and Rae Walker, have been named founding members of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Innovation Advisory Board. According to the release from the university, the new board members were recognized for their “deep commitment to nurse-led innovation and recognize its power to transform health care”.
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The Boston Globe highlighted one of leaders of the Mass. Digital Health Initiative, Dr. Jeff Leiden, the new chair of the Mass. Competitive Partnership.
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Mass General and AstraZeneca announced a new digital health pilot program "focused on heart failure and asthma studies to help improve outcomes for patients with chronic diseases." According to HIT Consultant, the new partnership will be led by the MGH Center for Innovation in Digital Healthcare.
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Watertown's Firefly Health has raised a $40M Series B round for its virtual primary care platform states MedCityNews.
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mHealthIntelligence reports on the Mass.-based consortium of community health centers called the FQHC Telehealth Consortium are using an award from the FCC and other funds to tackle barriers to telehealth adoption, particularly in under-served populations, including "a strong focus on broadband connectivity."
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Researchers from Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester worked with colleagues around the country on a study on the use of digital health by older adults, finding "a deep digital health divide" according to Renal and Urology News.
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Innovations in Caregiving: From Unmet Needs to Measurable Outcomes
Date & Time: Thursday, April 29, 2021 - 1:00 p.m.
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The MassTech Collaborative and the Massachusetts Caregiver Coalition host the next webinar in the “Innovations in Caregiving” virtual series, which builds on the theme of leveraging innovation to reveal unmet needs and catalyze immediate impact for caregivers. Features three Massachusetts companies: Torchlight, iRobot, and the human capital firm Leading Indicator Systems. Moderated by Laurance Stuntz, Director of the Mass. eHealth Institute at MassTech.
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MassChallenge Health Equity Event Series
Date & Time: May 2021
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MassChallenge and their key sponsor, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, host the next event in their series focused on how 'healthcare organizations are innovating to address health inequities'.
Check out their series website to find archived content from the previous series events and stay tuned for details on their next event in May.
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HLTH 2021
Date & Time: October 17-20, 2021
First time in Boston!
HLTH 2021 is the preeminent event designed for the health industry, bringing together senior leaders to solve healthcare’s most pressing problems and realize the most promising opportunities to create health’s future.
This is an ecosystem event which will bring together payers, providers, employers, investors, startups, life sciences, policymakers, and the patient community to help solve some of the industry’s largest problems and to bring to life some of the most promising opportunities to improve health.
Registration is now open. Attend either in-person or virtually from home.
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For more events, check out
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