Startup Day Brings Federal, Local Officials Together
Local, state and federal leaders gathered at the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis this week to discuss innovations in healthcare and technology in Indiana. Indiana Startup Day included remarks from Ed Simcox, chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and also spotlighted seven Indiana healthcare startups. Brian Dixon, director of public health informatics for the Regenstrief Institute, says the goal of the event was for federal officials to learn ideas and best practices they could take and implement in other parts of the country.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman, Dixon said collaboration was a big topic of discussion.
"One of the really novel and important things that we’re doing in our state is working together to share data and information so that we could have a better assessment on the health needs of the population and then develop policies and interventions to address those needs," said Dixon. "The health care leaders at the federal level were really interested in how we were able to do that, how we were able to have multi-sector, cross-disciplinary work to advance healthcare in the state and they’re interested in having other states do that and they’re interested in doing that at the federal level."
The startups that were spotlighted during the event include:
- RestUp: An app and website designed to bridge the gap in professional caregivers and the families and businesses needing that care.
- Illuminate Health: An app for families to manager their health care.
- DigiBio: Focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical trials and enabling researchers to collect quality, objective data from trial participants.
- Karyosoft: Provides next generation customized and easy-to-use software solutions that make complex data analytics simple for microbiome scientists.
- Vital Incite: Delivers data-driven strategies designed to help medical facilities identify inefficiencies and improve spending decisions.
- Olio: A digital collaboration platform to connect acute and post-acute providers by specialty.
- Novosteo: Works to reduce the morbidity, mortality and loss of productivity associated with bone fractures.
Dixon added there are a couple of ways Indiana could increase its efforts in the realm of life sciences and technology.
"One is I think we need to continue to make progress on preventing brain drain. We’re doing a great job at Purdue and Indiana and other institutions of higher education of training people who are at the cross-sections of healthcare and technology, so keeping those bright minds in the state through creating job opportunities for them," said Dixon. "The second thing is that we need to get over this humility that most Hoosiers have and really market the really great things that we’re doing here to not only the Indiana market but outside of Indiana to drive interest and investment from outside the state to grow the great companies that we have here."
The event drew 175 attendees from throughout the state. It was hosted by KSM Consulting, in partnership with TechPoint, Regenstrief Institute and LifeOmic.