The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced its partnership with MATTER, a health care technology organization in Chicago, to create the Interaction Studio, which brings together innovative health care technology startups, research universities and health care professionals.
CEO Steve Collens explained in an interview with Patient Daily that MATTER has 115 health care startups in early stages of development focusing on software, novel medical devices and data analytics. They have also partnered with 40 corporate partners and a dozen health systems and universities. MATTER helps mediate relationships between these different entities to help foster innovation and solve challenges in the health care industry.
“MATTER has three major goals to accelerate the development of technology that can help solve meaningful health care problems in the right way,” Collens told Patient Daily. “We want to equip entrepreneurs and healthcare innovators with with the tools they need to develop companies, embolden entrepreneurs and innovators by building a community and a supportive environment, and empower innovators with a large network involving health industries, insurance companies and universities.”
Collens explained that MATTER is able to help small, innovative companies face common challenges by receiving input and feedback on how the health care system works. In return, these businesses create the technology needed to help the health care industry become more affordable and effective for both health care providers and patients.
“MATTER offers a series of events where innovative speakers come and speak to startup entrepreneurs,” Collens said. “A good example is our Monday event with guest speaker Hal Barron from Calico. He will be speaking about Google’s and AbbVie’s $750 million partnership that helps decode the biology of aging.”
Such engagement in the medical and technological communities will be beneficial for both industries: the end result will be more effective processes in the health care community.
