Rock Health, the first seed accelerator for digital health startups, has announced Kaiser Permanente as a new sponsor. The partnership reinforces Kaiser Permanente’s longstanding commitment to innovation and technology-enabled health care.
Bringing together innovators through its work with startups, thought leaders, researchers and events all over the country, Rock Health has developed resources to help entrepreneurs and experts make sense of the complicated digital health landscape. Aside from providing financial support, Kaiser Permanente will work closely with Rock Health’s network of innovators and entrepreneurs to advance digital solutions in health care.
“As the largest integrated health care system in the United States and with 64 percent of our eligible members using digital health tools such as My Health Manager on kp.org, Kaiser Permanente is excited to support technology that empowers people to more effectively and conveniently manage their health,” said Wendy Lee, senior vice president and CIO chief of staff, Kaiser Permanente Digital Health Technology and Strategic Initiatives. “We look forward to partnering with Rock Health to further explore how we can bring health care into the digital age in ways that enhance the patient-clinician relationship.”
“We are pleased to welcome Kaiser Permanente as a partner, especially as we welcome our fourth class of participants,” said Halle Tecco, CEO of Rock Health. “Kaiser Permanente’s broad and deep perspectives as a leading provider of health benefits and health services will be invaluable to the startups in our ecosystem as they scale and develop global strategies.”
Kaiser Permanente joins Rock Health’s partners, which include the Mayo Clinic, Kleiner Perkins, Mohr Davidow, Aberdare Ventures, General Electric, Genentech, United Healthcare, University of California, San Francisco, Harvard Medical School and Nike.
“Kaiser Permanente is a leader in digital health, and sees this as an opportunity to support, accelerate and learn from innovation in this fast-moving space. We are interested in taking great, innovative ideas and making them a reality to improve the lives of our members,” said Madhu Nutakki, vice president, Kaiser Permanente Digital Health Applications and Technologies. “Both based in the hotbed of technology innovation, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, Kaiser Permanente and Rock Health share much more than geographic proximity — both are interested in improving health care, and that makes for a great collaboration.”
My Health Manager, Kaiser Permanente’s personal health record, enables members to view their medical record, email their providers, check lab test results, order prescription refills and manage appointments from their computers or handheld devices. Members can also act on behalf of their family members. In 2011, members signed on to My Health Manager more than 74 million times and took advantage of the website features in record numbers:
29.7 million lab results viewed online
12.2 million emails sent to providers
10 million prescriptions refilled
2.7 million appointments scheduled
