“This emerging industry cluster has the potential to become a powerful driver of job creation across the Commonwealth, while also unlocking new advances in improving patient care and lowering health care costs.”
Massachusetts has officially expanded its stake in the healthcare industry after it announced a new hub for health IT in the state. According to a public announcement out of Governor Charlie Baker’s press office, Massachusetts will begin an initiative to establish more health IT innovation.
By bringing together stakeholders in private and public sectors, the state government hopes to build a “hub” for health IT innovation operated by MassChallenge.
According to the press release, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP) plans to establish a bustling network of health IT companies:
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The initiative will bring public, private, academic, and healthcare leaders together to build a stronger and more connected statewide digital health ecosystem. To support digital health startups, the City of Boston, Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech (MeHI), and MACP announced the establishment of a digital health innovation hub. The initiative will provide space, programming and strong industry network for digital health startups and will serve as a Boston “hub” for the industry. Programming through the hub will be managed and operated by MassChallenge.
In addition to helping stimulate business development, state leaders hope that Massachusetts’ already notability in the healthcare and technology industries can help create innovations that will help patients across the healthcare spectrum.
“Our administration is committed to making Massachusetts a national leader in digital health by partnering with private industry, convening key stakeholders and addressing market gaps,” said Governor Baker. “This emerging industry cluster has the potential to become a powerful driver of job creation across the Commonwealth, while also unlocking new advances in improving patient care and lowering health care costs.”
In the same announcement, MACP also explained some of the public sector plans for increasing eHealth innovation. For example, industry stakeholders are developing a plan to fund promising health technology start-up companies that are planning to relocate to or are already located in Massachusetts.
MACP is also funding the development of standardized research agreements to ease the burden for technology entrepreneurs. These agreements will set up partnerships between entrepreneurs and some of the state’s best academic institutions such as schools in the University of Massachusetts system, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and Partners Healthcare.
Those from MACP who designed this initiative believe Massachusetts is in a unique position to host so much health IT innovation.
“With the strengths of our universities, academic medical centers, and life sciences companies, Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to succeed in digital healthcare and I’m thrilled to be part of the team that will make it happen,” said MACP’s Digital Health Initiative leader Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD.
Also as a part of this action, Governor Baker announced that he will expand MeHI to cover the growth of health IT industry throughout the state. MeHI already functions to promote the growth and use of electronic health technologies such as EHRs and health information exchanges, and will now also be in charge of helping to develope an industry that will help those technologies grow.
Overall, these efforts are expected to help not only Massachusetts’ economy, but the health IT industry via the state’s history of technological and research-oriented successes.
“This new statewide public-private partnership in digital health builds on a base of existing investments in an array of sectors, from biotech to cloud computing and flexible hybrid electronics,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. “I look forward to continuing to collaborate with industry stakeholders and academic researchers to harness Massachusetts’ national leadership in research and development, and unlock new economic opportunities.”
Date: January 7, 2016