Advocate Aurora Health and MATTER announce Health Tech Venture Challenge winner
Five challenge finalists aim to transform primary care experience; Lytic takes home top prize
Chicago, IL – Advocate Aurora Health, the 10th largest not-for-profit integrated health system in the country, and MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, today named Lytic, Inc., a Chicago-based digital health startup, the winner of the Health Tech Venture Challenge. Following a live pitch event, Lytic was awarded the top honor, a $10,000 cash prize and six-month MATTER membership, which will include curated sessions with Advocate Aurora Health subject matter experts to further develop their winning solution.
Launched in early October, the Health Tech Venture Challenge, a joint initiative of MATTER and Advocate Aurora Health, called on the health technology startup community to reimagine primary care. Challenge participants were tasked with using technology to elevate novel ideas and solutions that address challenges for patients and their primary care providers. Solutions submitted to the challenge ranged from telehealth and clinical decision support tools to wearables and IoT solutions.
“Working with the health innovation community to promote these new ideas aligns with our commitment to accelerate the development of better, safer, more convenient ways to improve health and wellness,” said Scott Powder, chief strategy officer of Advocate Aurora Health. “Technology is driving the future of medicine, and innovation in health care will have a tremendous impact on our collective well-being. It’s a strategic priority for us to identify, implement and scale the very best solutions.”
From the initial pool of 69 applicants, five finalists were selected to present to the Advocate Aurora Health leadership team, including one of the health system’s chief executive officers, Jim Skogsbergh, during a live pitch event at MATTER.
“This challenge provided an inspiring window into the future of primary care — arguably the most important aspect of medicine for keeping people healthy and well,” said Steven Collens, CEO of MATTER. “We look forward to helping Lytic take us one step closer to making this future a reality.”
Lytic developed a product, Checkup, a chatbot-powered digital health management platform. After users converse with the chatbot about symptoms, Checkup provides the next best step for care, scheduling and long-term care management.
“We were honored for the opportunity to present our company and idea to such a knowledgeable and experienced panel, and to have pitched amongst a group of such forward-thinking and innovative companies,” said Adeel Malik, Lytic founder and CEO. “We’re excited and looking forward to the opportunity to bring the vision to life with Advocate Aurora Health.”
MATTER and Advocate Aurora Health announced a strategic collaboration earlier this year to drive entrepreneurship and transformations in care delivery that expand access, improve the consumer experience and health outcomes, and reduce the cost of care. The Health Tech Venture Challenge was the two organizations’ first joint initiative.
About MATTER
At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 200 cutting-edge startups from around the world, working together with hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.
About Advocate Aurora Health
Advocate Aurora Health is the 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health system in the United States and a leading employer in the Midwest with more than 70,000 employees, including more than 22,000 nurses and the region’s largest employed medical staff and home health organization. A national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience, and value-based care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin across more than 500 sites of care. Advocate Aurora is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies and is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, and pediatrics. The organization also contributed $2 billion in charitable care and services to its communities in 2016.