HCF: Catalyst participants revealed

The not-for-profit health fund HCF has announced the nine promising health technology entrepreneurs who will participate in their 2019 Catalyst Accelerator program.

The program, now in its fourth year, is designed to support innovation in health care by providing funding and hands-on resources to some of Australia’s most promising new business models.

The five startups and four scaleups will take part in a 12-week program to further develop their ideas into investment-ready businesses that could provide substantial benefits for the Australian health system.

These participants were selected following a review of more than 250 applications. The chosen participants reflect HCF’s goal to transform the way traditional healthcare is delivered and align with the HCF vision to make healthcare more understandable, affordable, high quality and customer-focused.

The 2019 HCF Catalyst Participants are:

Startups

  • Myscoreit – Simplifying the collection of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in busy musculoskeletal practice workflows to make it quick, easy and intuitive for patients and clinicians.
  • Respia – Developed a wearable chest patch to help parents monitor and record their child’s respiratory health for the better management of asthma.
  • IVF Options – Provides Australians with more affordable access to IVF treatment through transparent pricing information and affordable payment plans.
  • Evrima – Transforming the patient recruitment process for clinical trials to help clinicians accelerate timelines and increase patient awareness.
  • Active Farmers Limited (PATH) – An organisation that delivers values-based psychology, healthy food, exercise and mindfulness to regional Australians, via an interactive chatbot with a ‘personal assistant’ style.

Scaleups

  • Scalamed – End-to-end system that gives patients the power to effortlessly manage their own prescriptions. Leveraging blockchain technology, ScalaMed makes it easier and more secure for clinicians to prescribe and help consumers engage with their health information.
  • Wisr – A neo-lending company with a genuine commitment to the financial wellness of Australians, delivered by its market leading technology to provide a smarter, fairer and wiser eco-system of financial products and services.
  • Chemo@home – Administers chemotherapy and other medical infusions to patients, in the comfort and convenience of their own homes.
  • Conpago – Provides technology solutions to the ‘later life’ industry helping the elderly and their families engage and connect to their local community.

HCF Chief Executive Officer Sheena Jack said, “we continue to be focused on improving health outcomes for all Australians and our ongoing commitment to the Catalyst program is one of the ways we can achieve this.

“We’re proud of the impact the program has had to date. We’ve seen so many alumni success stories and now offer a number of these innovative solutions to our members,” she said.

“This year’s participants focus on some of the key problem areas in our current health system. We are seeing a greater need to develop new models of care and solutions that empower Australians to play an active role in the own health. We are certain that this year’s cohort will inspire and deliver much needed solutions.”

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