TGH Ventures Startup Competition Highlights Breakthrough Solutions for Care Coordination at HLTH 2024

Pharmacy tech startup Asepha rose to the occasion as the winner, earning funding and an opportunity to meet with TGH senior leadership to explore a potential partnership.

 

Tampa, FL (October 29, 2024) – TGH Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), hosted the Provider Care Coordination Startup Competition at HLTH 2024, a leading health care innovation summit that took place Oct. 20-23 in Las Vegas. The competition was conducted with the purpose of identifying and supporting startups with the most promising advanced technology to improve provider care coordination.

 

From a pool of 81 applicants that was narrowed down to eight finalists, pharmacy tech startup Asepha emerged victorious. The grand prize includes funding and an opportunity to meet with TGH senior leadership to explore a potential partnership. Asepha provides AI clinical tools for pharmacies. Its AI pharmacy assistant is designed to automate pharmaceutical services, increasing productivity by identifying medication issues, providing tailored suggestions and counseling and streamlining intake, consultations and prescription data entry in real-time. 

“At Tampa General, we're passionate about fostering a thriving innovation ecosystem,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. “This competition, focused on a technological revolution of care coordination, demonstrates our dedication to partnering with dynamic startups who share our vision of driving innovation to enhance communication, streamline processes, and ultimately, improve patient outcomes for the Tampa Bay community and beyond."

The competition, held on Tuesday, Oct. 22, showcased a diverse range of cutting-edge technologies and strategies designed to transform care coordination, making it smarter, simpler and more impactful. The event, moderated by Rachel Feinman, vice president of Innovation at Tampa General and managing director of TGH Ventures, featured a distinguished panel of judges, including Couris, Nancy Brown, general partner at Oak HC/FT and Vishal Lugani, founding general partner at Acrew Capital.

“The energy, innovation and excitement for the future of health care showcased at this competition was truly inspiring,” said Feinman. “TGH Ventures is committed to supporting growth and development in these cutting-edge areas as we work together with startups to build a more connected and patient-centered health care system."

“Tampa General’s commitment to digital transformation is central to providing safe and effective patient care,” said Scott Arnold, executive vice president and chief digital and innovation officer at Tampa General. “The Provider Care Coordination Startup Competition aligns perfectly with our mission to integrate advanced technologies and innovative strategies into our processes. By fostering collaboration with forward-thinking startups, we're not only streamlining our care coordination but setting new standards for patient-centered care."

To be eligible for the Startup Competition, participating startups had to be less than five years old and have raised less than $5 million in capital.

In addition to Asepha, several finalists showcased remarkable innovations, including:

• MedSetGO: MedSetGo's AI-powered care coordination platform connects hospitals with post-acute providers (SNFs, LTACs, rehab, home health, etc.), rapidly synthesizing patient information and recommending optimal care partners based on clinical and non-clinical factors. Secure, HIPAA-compliant referrals are initiated via on-demand scheduling integrated with EMR systems, resulting in higher-quality care and lower costs.
• Troupe Health: Troupe's AI-powered Wellness Director provides comprehensive clinical and behavioral health support to senior living communities, collaborating with PCPs or providing direct services to enhance resident care and streamline communication.
• SkinCheck: SkinCheck is building a machine-learning skin cancer detection tool and asynchronous telehealth platform to increase access to dermatological care and skin health management, allowing users to perform thorough self-exams on skin conditions.
• Rheumission: Rheumission is building a national, virtual-first integrative rheumatology and lifestyle medicine practice that partners with payers under value-based care agreements to address the high cost of autoimmune care through a multidisciplinary team and personalized interventions.
• Blue Agilis: Blue Agilis’s AI-powered platform transforms primary and inpatient clinical operations by identifying care delivery gaps and providing tailored, evidence-based interventions. Its Smart Solution Technology™ improves patient outcomes, experiences and lowers costs without requiring EHR integration or PHI storage.
• AI Stroke: AI Stroke’s app provides rapid, predictive stroke diagnosis using AI. Using the world's largest stroke video dataset, the app guides patients through exercises, captures video and delivers preliminary diagnoses in seconds, improving first responder accuracy and enabling faster treatment to reduce the devastating impact of strokes. Built-in tele-stroke capabilities further enhance communication between patients, EMS and neurologists.
• Lilypad Health: Lilypad’s menstrual pad add-on enables non-invasive health monitoring and screening for gynecological diseases (e.g., high-risk HPV, thyroid disorders) by collecting menstrual blood samples. A user-friendly kit facilitates sample collection and lab submission, with results and next steps provided via a companion app.

TGH Ventures invests in and partners with emerging health care companies redefining the care experience. It offers financial and strategic support to entrepreneurs developing solutions that improve patient lives and align with TGH's vision of affordable, accessible, convenient and effective health care. Beyond direct investments, TGH Ventures fosters collaboration through programs like Co-Lab, providing resources to drive transformative changes in health care.

 

To learn more about Asepha, click here. For more about TGH Ventures, click here.