There’s no shortage of innovation in health care. And yet, diffusing these innovations across the industry is a persistent challenge. In fact, some of the greatest health care innovations have taken decades to reach widespread adoption—adding to the ever-increasing cost of health care.

To help address this problem, Harvard Business School (HBS) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) created the Health Acceleration Challenge, a "scale-up" competition that seeks to shorten the time frame for innovation dissemination. The goal of the challenge is to connect established health care solutions with networking and funding in order to grow and increase their impact.

To be considered for the Health Acceleration Challenge, a team must demonstrate that their innovation is:

  • Impactful– The innovation would significantly improve the value of health care delivery if widely adopted.
  • Proven– The innovation is credible and has evidence of successful results, such as cost savings, outcomes improvement, patient satisfaction, etc.
  • Ready to scale– The innovation has a detailed rollout plan and is at the cusp of “scaling up” to achieve impact.

    • In spring 2017, events were hosted around the country in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York to celebrate the four finalists. Over 400 HBS and HMS alumni participated in case sessions to share advice and provide guidance to the finalists.

    During the fall 2016 competition, four teams were selected as finalists:

    • Addicaid: Addiction wellness platform for patients, payers, and providers
    • Carrum Health: Comprehensive bundled payment solution for employers
    • Ochsner Health System: Technology-enabled model of care to manage hypertension
    • Radial Analytics: Decision support system for after-hospital care planning

    The finalists spent the next near scaling their innovations. 24 judges evaluated the four teams and after much deliberation, Carrum Health was selected as the winner. Sachin Jain was presented with an addtional $50,000 award on November 8, 2017.

    To learn more about the HBS-HMS Health Acceleration Challenge, visit the Forum on Health Care Innovation