The State of Startup Collaboration at Large Health Systems | 2020 Survey

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A new survey finds that health system leaders are actively seeking new commercial relationships with startups regardless of when “normal” returns but startup success hinges on not only addressing solutions that are on health systems' shortlist but also data supporting a clear ROI.

Dreamit Ventures and MedCityNews teamed up to get a pulse on the current appetite for innovation at large health systems across the United States. The survey data tapped senior innovation leaders, 85% of whom came from health systems with over 1,000 beds. Notable health systems surveyed include Kaiser Permanente, Houston Methodist Hospital, University Hospitals, Thomas Jefferson, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Duke University, and St. Luke’s University Health Network, among others.

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During the first three-quarters of 2020, most major health systems were primarily interested in engaging with companies whose platforms had compelling Covid19 use cases that could be immediately deployed. However, health systems today appear to have moved beyond the all-consuming focus on Covid-19. This should come as welcome news for health tech startups. Large health systems are once again actively exploring new commercial relationships with these upstarts, seeking platforms that solve big and urgent challenges that existed well before the pandemic. Only one health system reported exclusive interest in direct Covid-19 solutions.

The survey was geographically diverse with responses coming from across the nation.

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This is an abbreviated version of the original article. The full survey covers additional topics:

  • When will health system begin returning to a state of normalcy

  • Top strategic priorities for CIOs and innovation leaders at health systems

  • Expectations for telehealth utilization post-pandemic

  • Advice to healthtech founders given these themes

Read the complete report on MedCityNews.


By Elliot Levy, Healthtech Associate at Dreamit Ventures

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Learn more about Dreamit Healthtech, a venture fund and growth-focused program for digital health and medtech startups with revenue, pilots, or early product-market fit.

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