HEARTX ACCELERATOR ANNOUNCES FIVE STARTUP COMPANIES SELECTED FOR THE 2022 PROGRAM

KICK-OFF EVENT SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 1, 2022 at 5:30 PM

HeartX, powered by HealthTech Arkansas and MedAxiom, along with seven Arkansas healthcare providers — Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Arkansas Heart Hospital, Baptist Health, CHI St. Vincent, Conway Regional Health System, St. Bernards Healthcare, and Washington Regional Medical Center — have selected the five startup healthcare companies that will participate in the 2022 accelerator program. HeartX is a cardiovascular-focused healthcare accelerator that facilitates guaranteed hospital pilot projects and clinical trials for accomplished, early-stage companies bringing new cardiovascular innovations to market.

The five companies selected for the 2022 HeartX program are:

Acorai, Helsingborg, Sweden

Acorai produces a device for heart failure management through non-invasive intracardiac pressure monitoring. It is handheld and uses multi-modal sensor technologies and a proprietary machine learning system based on unique insights into flow and pressure dynamics.

Echo IQ, Sydney, Australia

Echo IQ uses AI to support the diagnosis of structural heart conditions. The AI helps to identify at-risk patients classified by guidelines and patients who have a risk phenotype but fall outside of traditional guidelines.

iCardio.ai, Los Angeles, California

The iCardio.ai Brain is an AI software that can intake an entire echocardiogram and produce a full cardiologist report. The software is trained to recognize multiple pathologies and can be used to more efficiently identify at-risk patients, increase visibility into abnormalities, and increase the accuracy and consistency of diagnosis.

MediWhale, Seoul, South Korea

MediWhale has created Reti-CVD, an AI analytic tool that uses retinal images to identify people with high CVD risk. Developed using large global epidemiological databases, the analytic identifies subtle features in retinal vasculature for precision CVD risk calculation.

SafeBeat Rx, Chico, California

SafeBeat Rx is an at-home kit that includes machine-learning software which automates ECG measurements and recommends drug dosing to physicians, as well as FDA-approved devices (mobile ECG; mobile cardiac telemetry; wearable cardioverter defibrillator). This kit enables at-home initiation of the most efficacious antiarrhythmic drugs, replacing a 3-day hospitalization.

HeartX is hosting an event on November 1, 2022, at 5:30 PM to introduce the five startup companies selected for the 2022 accelerator program. The event will be held at Arkansas Heart Hospital Encore Medical Center and include a welcome from Dr. Bruce Murphy, followed by short presentations from each of the five companies in the cohort. The event is free and open to the press and the public. Attendees can register for the event here. More information about HeartX, including a link to RSVP for the kick-off event, can be found on the HeartX website.

“We are excited to reveal the new cohort and introduce them to Arkansas and the powerful teams available to them at all of our healthcare provider partners around the state,” said Jeff Stinson, director of HealthTech Arkansas. “This year’s companies are exceptionally strong, due in no small part to MedAxiom’s contributions as our program partner. We’re proud of our role in healthcare innovation as the only program in the country that guarantees hospital pilot projects for early-stage companies, which produces exceptionally accomplished cohorts.”

“The cardiovascular industry is steeped in innovation and technology, which has resulted in impressive advancements in care delivery for patients around the world. MedAxiom and HealthTech Arkansas formed HeartX to accelerate cardiovascular innovation and bring new solutions to the market by connecting early-stage companies with healthcare delivery networks. The HeartX 2022 cohort companies share MedAxiom’s mission of transforming cardiovascular care and improving heart health. We look forward to working closely with these innovators to deliver new options to cardiovascular organizations and patients,” said Joe Sasson, PhD, MedAxiom’s chief commercial officer and executive vice president of Ventures.

Representatives from each of the seven healthcare providers interviewed applicants and selected companies with technologies that have the potential to advance cardiovascular innovation and cardiac care at their respective organizations. The cohort will participate in a program that provides them the opportunity to build solutions specifically identified by Arkansas cardiovascular healthcare providers as areas of opportunity within their organizations. Each company will receive $150,000 of investment capital as well as complete and total access to clinicians and administrators while executing their pilot projects with Arkansas hospitals.

ABOUT HEALTHTECH ARKANSAS

HealthTech Arkansas helps to drive innovation for healthcare provider organizations through its accelerator programs and through internal innovation programming. Its flagship accelerator, HeartX, recruits worldwide for the most accomplished cardiovascular-focused startups in the areas of digital health, medical devices, and diagnostic platforms. Those companies accepted into the program are guaranteed at least two pilot projects or clinical trials from among the ten largest hospitals and health systems in Arkansas. More information can be found at HealthTechArkansas.com.

ABOUT MEDAXIOM

MedAxiom, an ACC Company, is the cardiovascular community’s premier source for organizational performance solutions. MedAxiom is transforming cardiovascular care by combining the knowledge and power of 450+ cardiovascular organization members, thousands of administrators, clinicians and coders and 40+ industry partners. Through the delivery of proprietary tools, smart data and proven strategies, MedAxiom helps cardiovascular organizations achieve the Quadruple Aim of better outcomes, lower costs, improved patient experience and improved clinician experience. Learn more at medaxiom.com.

Healthcare Hackathon: Participation Tips

In addition to the event we just co-hosted, healthcare hackathons are happening all over the country. These hackathons bring people with diverse perspectives — clinicians, engineers, designers, software developers, business people, and patients — together in an intense, fun-filled, multi-day event to develop and build solutions that address healthcare challenges. Participants form teams, collaborate, and focus on a specific problem or idea in healthcare to come up with innovative ideas and solutions. Some people participate in these competitions for the thrill and the opportunity to win a cash prize. Others participate because they have meaningful insights to contribute to a problem that is important to them.

If you plan to participate in an upcoming healthcare hackathon, here are some tips:

1. Research the problem and learn directly from the people who have the issue you are trying to solve. Talk to the end-users, watch how they currently solve the issue and try to experience it yourself.

2. Establish a hypothesis and begin to test it among key users. Before you start to build any models, discuss your idea with those who will impact the most from your idea.

3. Identify roles on your team. Assign tasks based on core skills needed to build your idea.

4. Validate and iterate throughout the process. Because you will need to move quickly during a hackathon event, things will not always work perfectly before you can test them. That is okay. In this situation, you want to pivot and explore throughout the development process.

5. Maintain constant communication with your team. As a team, maintain the camaraderie of normal communication, irrespective of the tense circumstances. Be it the last-minute change or inability to do a particular task, keep the other team members updated.

Have fun and good luck!

Arkansas Children’s Hackathon Generates Software Innovations

HealthTech Arkansas joined with Cartwheel Startup Studio, the University of Arkansas, and Startup Junkie to administer the Digital Health Challenge in Bentonville, Arkansas April 1-3, 2022. Nine teams representing individuals from seven states competed in the challenge.

Five current challenges faced by Arkansas Children’s that lend themselves to software solutions were presented to hackathon teams. Following the presentations and a robust Q&A session, each team chose the challenge they wanted to tackle over the course of the weekend. After final presentations on Sunday, a highly experienced judging panel chose the winning team: Tulsa’s OK. The team won the grand prize of $10,000, sponsored by Startup Junkie. But even better, six of the nine teams were chosen to continue conversations with Arkansas Children’s for the development and potential piloting of their software solutions.

“The commitment by Arkansas Children’s to the hackathon was extraordinary and was the primary driver of the event’s success,” said Jeff Stinson, director of HealthTech Arkansas. “Not only did they spend considerable time prior to the event developing and vetting challenges to be presented, but they committed significant numbers of subject matter experts and end-users for customer discovery interviews and mentoring during the course of the weekend.”

"Bringing talented people together to build, test and implement software solutions to improve care provided by Arkansas Children’s was the goal for the hackathon,” said Barry Brady, COO, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute. “Matching Arkansas Children’s subject matter experts with creative developers and engineers to collaborate on developing pediatric health solutions was a great experience for all groups who participated in the event. The dedication and collaboration of everyone involved was exciting to see.”

“We believe this model can be highly impactful for driving healthcare innovation and creating startup companies,” continued Stinson. “First, we’re starting with real problems faced by our health systems and deploying very talented teams for solution development. And second, we’ve created an ideal collaboration with our friends at Cartwheel Startup Studio, who have a proven methodology and infrastructure for startup creation, which clearly has strong potential for Northwest Arkansas economic development.”

An Interview with Joe Sasson, MedAxiom

For our latest Healthcare Innovation Discussion, director of HealthTech Arkansas Jeff Stinson interviewed Joe Sasson, EVP of Ventures at MedAxiom.

Jeff:  HealthTech Arkansas is incredibly excited to begin the HeartX journey with MedAxiom, and we’d love for our readers to learn more about you and your organization. Please tell us about your role there.

Joe:  MedAxiom is a membership organization designed to improve the clinical, operational, and financial aspects of cardiovascular care delivery by focusing on shared data and shared expertise. Our mission is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The MedAxiom organization is divided into three primary business units, 1) Membership, 2) Care Transformation Services and 3) Ventures and Industry Partnerships. 

As the leader of the MedAxiom Ventures division, I serve a dedicated team that supports MedAxiom’s relationships with industry partners. Together we set the strategy, identify industry and marketplace needs, and innovate new ways to help our partners accelerate solution adoption for the benefit of cardiovascular programs and cardiovascular patients.

Jeff:  How has MedAxiom historically sought to help its member cardiologists and cardiology practices become more innovative?

Joe:  Innovation has always been a part of MedAxiom’s DNA. As a 20-year-old company that has never let go of its start-up mentality, MedAxiom continues to support other innovative start-ups on their journey towards expanding their impact on care. MedAxiom offers industry partners several opportunities designed to create relationships, enable the dispersion of education on new and refined technologies, and accelerate the adoption of life- and cost-saving solutions that benefit cardiovascular programs, physicians, and, most importantly patients. MedAxiom has often created low barriers for start-ups to participate in our ecosystem, and we see the HeartX Accelerator as a more formalized pathway to executing that same goal. 

Jeff:  What attracted you to this collaboration with HealthTech Arkansas, and what does MedAxiom hope to achieve with HeartX?

Joe:  Supporting start-ups and innovation through our channels and services has always been a priority for MedAxiom. Collaborating with HealthTech Arkansas provides a more comprehensive strategy with additional structure and support for innovation. HealthTech Arkansas stood out to MedAxiom due to its specific focus on cardiology-related solutions, the quality of the organizations based in Arkansas that partner with HealthTech Arkansas today, and the cultural alignment between the two organizations — which MedAxiom views as critical to the success of any endeavor. Using MedAxiom’s national platform and channels, we can work with the accelerator cohort organizations to tell their story to a national audience outside of the successes they achieve in Arkansas.

Jeff:  What are some of the trend lines you see in cardiovascular care overall in our country, and how do you see MedAxiom participating in those trends?

Joe:  The national trends in cardiovascular care must transcend innovative products and solutions. Among many other factors, new trends are driven by improvements in care guidelines, payment reform, and technological advancements that typically require ancillary products and solutions to effectuate the needed shifts in cardiovascular care. The more significant trends that have been consuming national attention involve remote patient monitoring (i.e., implantable device monitoring, ambulatory arrhythmia monitoring, and physiologic monitoring); the shift of procedures to ambulatory surgery centers; the utilization of CT to diagnose chest pain; the adoption of whole person wellness via mental and behavioral health as well as cardiac rehabilitation; and a significant focus on cost reduction and improved services for patients with conditions such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and coronary artery disease. There are other trends affecting the market, yet these are a few in which we see much activity at the current time. 

These trends must be supported by technologies and solutions designed to achieve change. MedAxiom has focused its offerings such as peer benchmarking data, conference presentations, publications, webinars, podcasts, and MedAxiom Academy courses, to help cardiovascular programs navigate these trends. MedAxiom anticipates that some of the companies that enter into Heart-X will also support the attainment of optimal performance related to one or more of these trends. 

You're Invited: Free Pediatric Innovation Summit

Register now to attend this free, one-day Pediatric Innovation Summit hosted by Arkansas Children's Innovation Center on June 17 in Little Rock! Seating is limited, please register by June 10, 2022.

Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR

8:45 AM - 4:00 PM

Keynote Speaker:

Anthony Chang, MD

Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer

Children's Health of Orange County

Panel Discussions Include:

Health Systems Innovation

Pediatric Innovators

Emerging Technologies

An opening reception will be held from 5:00 PM -7:00 PM at the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum the night before the Summit.

Approval for CME Credit is Pending.

Register Now for the Free Pediatric Innovation Summit

Register now to attend this free, one-day Pediatric Innovation Summit hosted by Arkansas Children's Innovation Center on June 17 in Little Rock! Seating is limited, please register by June 10, 2022.

Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR

8:45 AM - 4:00 PM

Keynote Speaker:

Anthony Chang, MD

Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer

Children's Health of Orange County

Panel Discussions Include:

Health Systems Innovation

Pediatric Innovators

Emerging Technologies

An opening reception will be held from 5:00 PM -7:00 PM at the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum the night before the Summit.

Approval for CME Credit is Pending.

HEALTHTECH ARKANSAS AND MEDAXIOM COLLABORATE TO LAUNCH HEARTX, A CARDIOVASCULAR ACCELERATOR PROGRAM

HealthTech Arkansas and MedAxiom have come together to create HeartX, a cardiovascular-focused healthcare accelerator, to facilitate guaranteed hospital pilot projects and clinical trials for accomplished, early-stage companies bringing new cardiovascular innovations to market.

Applications for the 2022 HeartX cohort are now open, and companies will be selected by September 30, 2022. The program is seeking companies in three categories: digital health and software, medical devices and diagnostic platforms. Each company will receive $150,000 of investment capital and is guaranteed at least two pilot projects with Arkansas healthcare providers.

HealthTech Arkansas is in its fifth year of administering accelerator programs focused exclusively on provider engagement with early-stage companies. It works with both Arkansas-based and out-of-state companies.

MedAxiom, the cardiovascular community’s premier source for organizational performance solutions, is transforming cardiovascular care by bridging technology, innovation and care delivery. MedAxiom unites cardiovascular organizations, leaders and industry partners to achieve the Quadruple Aim of better outcomes, lower costs, improved patient experience, and improved clinician experience.

“The wonderful part of this collaboration is that it leverages the strengths of each of our organizations,” said Jeff Stinson, director of HealthTech Arkansas. “We have proven competencies in delivering guaranteed hospital pilot projects and clinical trials, and MedAxiom brings a national network and an impressive array of services for early-stage cardiovascular companies. We’re excited about our ability to deliver tremendous value for healthcare startups and for our health system partners.”

“MedAxiom has a strong focus on both innovation and supporting the healthcare start-up community,” said Joseph Sasson, PhD, MedAxiom’s executive vice president of Ventures. “MedAxiom has found a strong partner in HealthTech Arkansas and together we will be able to provide the guidance, investment, exposure and industry reach that can accelerate start-ups from pilots to full commercial scale. We look forward to working together to foster innovation and promote the widespread adoption of valuable technologies and services in the cardiovascular domain.”

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission awarded a grant to HealthTech Arkansas through a program designed to increase acceleration activities in targeted industries in the state. The program is conducted in partnership with 12 healthcare providers — Arkansas Heart Hospital, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Arkansas Urology, Baptist Health, CHI St. Vincent, Conway Regional, Mercy, Northwest Health, OrthoArkansas, St. Bernards Healthcare, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and Washington Regional Medical Center. HeartX will replace the current cardiovascular-focused accelerator led by HealthTech Arkansas.

More information can be found at HeartXaccelerator.com.

ABOUT HEALTHTECH ARKANSAS

HealthTech Arkansas is an accelerator and early-stage investment fund that recruits worldwide for the most accomplished startups in the areas of digital health, medical devices, and diagnostic platforms. Those companies accepted into the program are guaranteed at least two pilot projects or clinical trials from among eleven leading hospitals, health systems, and physician practices in Arkansas. HealthTech Arkansas is the only program in the U.S. to guarantee pilot projects and clinical trials with healthcare providers. More information can be found at HealthTechArkansas.com.

ABOUT MEDAXIOM

MedAxiom, an ACC Company, is the cardiovascular community’s premier source for organizational performance solutions. MedAxiom is transforming cardiovascular care by combining the knowledge and power of 450+ cardiovascular organization members, thousands of administrators, clinicians and coders and 40+ industry partners. Through the delivery of proprietary tools, smart data and proven strategies, MedAxiom helps cardiovascular organizations achieve the Quadruple Aim of better outcomes, lower costs, improved patient experience and improved clinician experience. Learn more at medaxiom.com.

Arkansas Children’s Innovation Center and Partners Name Winners of 48-Hour Hackathon

Tulsa Team Develops Solution to Connect Healthcare Providers to Emotional Supports

Nine teams from across the region brought expertise and collaborative spirit to the inaugural Arkansas Children’s Innovation Center Digital Health Challenge, and a team from Tulsa won the $10,000 prize for creating an app that would seamlessly connect healthcare workers to emotional support resources.

Arkansas Children’s Innovation Center, in collaboration with Cartwheel Startup Studio, Conductor, Startup Junkie Consulting, HealthTech Arkansas and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Arkansas, offered the teams a list of curated and vetted problems that could be solved with digital solutions. Contestants problem-solved and created for 48 hours in an event known as a hackathon, alongside mentors from the partnering organizations before presenting their solutions to a panel of experts including clinicians, administrators and investors.

The winning team, “Tulsa’s OK”, included participants Hailey Mortimore, Elena Haskins, Nate Fisher and Cole Anderson, all of Tulsa. The team collaborated to develop an app with a complex decision tree and a closed-loop reporting system that automates steps of Arkansas Children’s WeCARE program.

To ensure each team member is equipped to bring their best to Arkansas Children’s every day, the health system developed WeCARE to provide a dedicated core of trained support staff who provide comfort, care and compassion to teammates experiencing a difficulty related to work or home. One of the challenges presented to the hackthon teams was to improve the process of connecting team members to assistance through WeCARE. Tulsa’s OK app would allow clinicians who have experienced a traumatic event to receive help more promptly, with better defined outcomes and quicker referrals to additional levels of support and care when needed.

Many of the solutions the hackathon teams presented will continue to inspire further innovation throughout the health system.

“The rapid-fire exchange of ideas among all the participating teams highlighted the importance of working together across industries and skillsets to find concepts that help us provide the best care possible to both our patients and our team members,” said Rick Barr, MD, MBA, chief clinical officer of Arkansas Children’s. “Every team brought innovative thinking to the challenges and pushed us to reimagine how collaboration and partnership can elevate healthcare.”

All teams participating in the hackathon retained the rights to the intellectual property incorporated in their solutions, and Arkansas Children’s will continue working with a number of the teams to support product development with the aim of piloting solutions in their hospitals and clinics.

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

Arkansas Children's, Inc. is the only healthcare system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' more than 700,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); the state’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) system for neurosurgical planning and cutting-edge research; and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Additionally, ACH is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in four pediatric subspecialties (2021—2022): Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Nephrology, Pulmonology and Urology. ACH is one of only five hospitals in the nation that have achieved Magnet Status, ACS Level 1 verification and a Beacon award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the Northwest Arkansas region, opened in Springdale in early 2018. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and Northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.

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