Amazon announces healthcare startup accelerator

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced their 2023 AWS Healthcare Accelerator: Global Cohort for Workforce Development as part of an ongoing strategy to tackle workforce issues facing healthcare today.

The AWS Healthcare Accelerator will connect 23 startups to 14 leaders and experts in healthcare, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), Humana, Mass General Brigham and more, who will use Amazon cloud services to grow and advance their digital health mission. 

“After stepping up to care for more than 6 million COVID-19 patients the last three years, our healthcare system is depleted. Today we face a true crisis,” said Chris DeRienzo, MD and chief physician executive of the AHA. 

“That’s why the AHA is excited to be a part of advancing new solutions like those incubated by the AWS Healthcare Accelerator—our members need their support now more than ever.”  

DeRienzo’s statement echoes a harrowing statistic from the World Health Organization (WHO) that estimates a deficit of 10 million healthcare workers by 2030. 

“Many of the mentors in this program come from health systems and hospitals, so these start-ups will get valuable insights on what drives and challenges these providers and their CIOs relative to using technology to better support their workforce,” Angela Shippy, MD and senior executive at AWS told DHI. 

AWS has selected 23 startups that support the healthcare industry by addressing 3 key issues: retention, deployment, and training.  

Retention

An overload of tedious tasks can lead to frustration and burnout at work. Startups like Momo Medical, babblevoice, and Navenio are helping to prevent burnout in healthcare by providing tech solutions that will streamline clinical workflows, minimize documentation demands, employ artificial intelligence to perform basic tasks, and make work arrangements more flexible. 

Deployment

The pandemic pushed healthcare to conquer new realms – like virtual, at-home, and community-based care. Healthcare’s adoption of these new delivery methods have proved immeasurable to patients and providers, but it still needs the technological infrastructure to make providing care outside of traditional settings safe, secure, and efficient. Startups like Rose Health, PathologyWatch, and The TeleDentists are creating technology that make this expansion safe and secure by improving remote monitoring and secure information exchange. 

Training

Healthcare organizations face staffing limitations that inhibit their ability to train, upskill, and reskill healthcare professionals. Startups like Grapefruit Health, MOONHUB, and Proximie are leveraging interactive technology such as virtual reality to facilitate efficient and customized training practices. 

For more information and the full list of startups see the AWS Healthcare Accelerator: Global Cohort for Workforce Development.