News

As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act and HITECH Act are rolled out, providers and payers are looking for ways to address pain points varying from improving patient engagement and remote monitoring to helping consumers better understand their insurance options to making better use of patient information in the context of big data.

Some accelerators are helping members of the healthcare ecosystem and entrepreneurs find each other. These four healthcare accelerators are currently looking for applicants.

Version 2.0 of a plan to create an Office of mHealth in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should be out soon. The office of U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, Silicon Valley’s Democratic Congressman who authored the legislation, said the next draft will at the least fine-tune the way the office would work with other federal agencies.

But is the big-ticket item – a new office dedicated to adding more context and understanding of mHealth within the federal agency – the most interesting thing about the bill? I don’t think so. Read through the details and see if you agree.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is asking companies for financial donations to help implement President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, months before it is due to take effect.

In telephone calls that began around March 23, officials say, Obama’s top healthcare adviser has been seeking assistance from companies in the healthcare field and other industries as well as from healthcare providers, patient advocacy groups, churches and other charitable organizations.

The University City Science Center is collaborating with the Canadian Consulate General to pilot a business accelerator for health information and communication technology companies from Canada.

Opening on May 13, 2013, the Canadian Technology Accelerator at the Science Center will provide a 3-6 month “market immersion” experience for Canadian health IT companies, leveraging the Science Center’s resources and networks through its Port business incubator.

Venture capital firm Grotech Ventures has raised $225 million that it plans to invest in early-stage technology companies.

The $225 million round, called Grotech Ventures II, is the firm’s eight fund. The firm had originally planned to raise $220 million but expanded to include new investors, said Grotech Managing General Partner and Founder Frank Adams.

It’s true that, geographically speaking, Maryland is a small state. But as the old saying goes, “Good things come in small packages,” and that is especially true when it comes to the resources, advice and technical expertise that Maryland offers inventors and technology entrepreneurs.

From university laboratories and research centers (such as The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Maryland’s Office of Technology Commercialization or University of Maryland – Baltimore City’s ACTiVATE) to state organizations (Maryland Biotechnology Center or the Department of Business and Economic Development), a wide variety of entities are working to help entrepreneurs develop and market their inventions.

If you’re a startup working on a product for the healthcare industry, Boston is the place to be. During a trip to Bean Town, I was curious to hear what startup founders found most challenging in a city so rich with resources. The usual gripes I usually hear elsewhere, like troubles with seed funding or FDA regulation, didn’t come up as much. Instead, these founders seemed to find the more personal elements of entrepreneurship most challenging. Many times, I found myself talking to people who had made a shift from working in tech or research to becoming a business owner.

The community realizes that, though. In addition to numerous startup accelerators and incubators, Boston is home to lots of collaborative startup space.

Local businesses have seen needed venture capital and loans in greater abundance in recent months.

The amount of venture capital investment funneled to Montgomery County and Washington-area companies in 2013’s first quarter jumped by 30 percent from the same period a year ago, according to a recent report.

The $286.3 million invested in local companies in the first three months was the most in the quarter in five years, according to the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data by Thomson Reuters.

Governor Martin O’Malley today officially launched data.maryland.gov – Maryland’s first statewide open data portal that will provide researchers, entrepreneurs, public servants and citizens with a wide variety of data to support transparency and innovation in government. Data such as vendor payments, vehicle accidents, licensed veterinary clinics, GIS mapping data, and per capita electricity consumption will all be made available and housed in a central place for the public.

The Governor made this announcement at a panel discussion hosted in conjunction with the Future of Information Alliance (FIA) – a transdisciplinary partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park and 10 founding partners. The panel featured “futurists” and over 120 students, entrepreneurs and public servants who spoke about the importance of big data to better serve and inform the public.

Benlysta, a drug to treat lupus, has received approval from European regulators to be marketed in Europe, the drug’s co-makers, Human Genome Sciences Inc. of Rockville, and GlaxoSmithKline, its London-based parent, announced.

The European approval came two days after Benlysta, the first new treatment developed for lupus in 50 years, was approved for use in Canada.