AHA Center for Health Innovation Announces 2019 Innovation Challenge Winners

AHA Center for Health Innovation Announces 2019 Innovation
Challenge Winners

Winning concepts offer creative solutions for addressing social determinants
of health using technology

CHICAGO – The 2019 American Hospital Association (AHA) Innovation Challenge asked hospitals and health systems to develop new sustainable and scalable solutions using technology to combat the social determinants of health and improve the health of our communities. The top three concepts were announced at the 2019 AHA Summit Leadership in San Diego, earning the winners funding, resources and other support to help bring their ideas to life.

The winners are:

First place: NewYork-Presbyterian. Their submission, “Using Digital Tools to Impact Early Childhood Development and Maternal Health,” focuses on using telehealth to link social determinants screening with early childhood development screening. This allows providers to assess social determinant-related vulnerabilities at home and increase patient engagement through virtual check-ins.

Second place: Henry Ford Health System of Detroit. Their submission, “Women-Empowered Community Access for Reproductive Equity (WE CARE),” offers a novel emergency department (ED) intervention using online health technology combined with community health workers. It provides vulnerable, reproductive-aged women with point-of-care planning services during non-emergent ED visits.

Third place: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. This submission, “Improving Health Equity among At-Risk New Moms,” turns a simple app into a virtual transition-to-home solution to help new mothers manage their postnatal care. The app, “Baby Steps LA,” provides medical information, task lists, support group and an informational wellness resource for the whole family.      

“This is an incredible day for innovation in health care. We not only celebrated the innovative achievements of our top three winners to improve maternal health, but applauded all hospitals and health systems for doing their part to address the entire spectrum of social factors so that one day all people can reach their highest potential for health,” said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president and chief medical officer, American Hospital Association.

First American Healthcare Finance is the exclusive sponsor of the challenge. As a national provider of comprehensive leasing and financing solutions in health care, the organization has a long history of helping health care clients perform at their very best. 

“At First American Healthcare Finance, we’re passionate about enabling health care’s leaders to lean in more to explore innovative ideas that transform health care for all. This year’s Innovation Challenge submissions were exceptional,” says Lori Dennis, senior vice president, First American Healthcare Finance. “We greatly appreciate the time, effort and ideation that all participating teams put into each and every proposal. It was a superior effort.”

To learn more about the 2019 Innovation Challenge winners and get creative at your organization, visit aha.org/aha-innovation-challenge.

# # #

Contact: 
Kathy Cummings, (312) 422-2623, kcummings@aha.org
Arika Trim, (202) 626-2319, atrim@aha.org

About AHA Center for Health Innovation
The AHA Center for Health Innovation, created by the American Hospital Association, enhances hospital and health system transformation and accelerates innovation at scale. The Center was formed in September 2019 from the merger of AHA’s Health Forum, Health Research & Educational Trust, Data Center and The Value Initiative. The Center serves as a key partner to AHA members, supporting their innovation and transformation journey with new tools, data products and analytics, learning collaboratives, conferences and virtual expeditions, market intelligence and advisory services.

About the American Hospital Association
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.