Applications will open next month for a new program providing strategic mentorship and expansive curriculum for healthcare startups.
The behemoth that is America’s healthcare system can be daunting to navigate as a patient, and unwelcoming to change-making startups hoping to improve accessibility for all stakeholders in healthcare. Baltimore-based Healthworx aims to fix these problems.
Healthworx, the innovation arm of CareFirst, is launching Healthworx Accelerator, which is a program offering funding and mentorship to healthcare startups. The reimagined program is building on the success of its predecessor, 1501 Health, aiming to expand reach and impact of startups who have seen traction bridging the gap and making inroads in establishing themselves in entrenched healthcare markets.
In other words, one of the big guys (CareFirst) is doing something to help invite the smaller guys (healthcare startups) in instead of shutting them out.
“The U.S. healthcare system is falling short, and is becoming increasingly expensive and inaccessible for millions,” said Doba Parushev, Managing Partner at Healthworx. “Healthworx Accelerator will serve as a strategic partner as corporations start to overhaul the system and provide higher-quality, more affordable care to Americans while also serving as a catalyst for startups stuck trying to break through in the competitive healthcare market.”
Healthworx offers a new approach with its health accelerators. In a twelve-week program, a focused curriculum will fast track companies on the road to disrupting a crowded healthcare ecosystem by providing them with knowledge and resources. The program provides expert mentorship from every angle of healthcare, from product development to navigation of the payer/provider system to marketing.
Healthworx Accelerator is designed to provide an insider’s perspective and education that might otherwise take years to acquire, giving participating companies an edge in knowledge, tools, education, and networking to help them magnify their impact and reach exponentially.
“Other programs offer a generalized approach to success, but Healthworx Accelerator should be viewed as the graduate school for startups,” Parushev said. “Thanks to the marriage of traditional healthcare experience and the deeply rooted goal of solving the problems plaguing our current healthcare system, this program is the best way for innovators in this space to truly make their mark.”
To see the eligibility requirements of the accelerator and signup to get notified when applications open, please click this link.
