A New Initiative on Emerging Technologies & Markets

Innovation. Emerging tech. These have become quite the buzzwords as of late – especially in healthcare. It’s estimated that over $8 billion was invested in digital health and technology in 2018. You don’t have to look far in healthcare to recognize that there is a massive amount of hype and noise around emerging companies, new technologies, and fresh investments.

KLAS has already been working to start conversations about innovation. This year, we’re going to take on a bigger role in the market by launching our Emerging Technologies insights and research called KLAS etech INSIGHT (or etech for short). Our objective is simple: separate fact from fiction for emerging technologies and markets in healthcare.

Why etech?

Every day, new companies are knocking on the doors of provider organizations and health systems. One CIO said to me a few weeks ago that there is more noise than ever before in this healthcare startup and innovation market, with more than a dozen new companies standing in their lobby each week.

This leaves providers asking a slew of questions. Which companies are legitimate? What are these new companies working on? What problems are they trying to solve? Which tools could be effective at my organization in driving real tangible outcomes and results?

As an unbiased third party, KLAS plans to do the legwork to validate these new companies so that providers can be informed, understand reality, and know what their peers are doing—we plan to, in essence, separate fact from fiction. We want to point out emerging companies that are solving real healthcare problems in innovative ways. This will feed right into KLAS’ mission to improve healthcare.

We can’t hope to cover everything; there are thousands of new HCIT companies. However, we want to rely on the help from providers, health system innovation centers, incubators, and others to help us identify those new companies and technologies that are worth a deeper look. Soon, we’ll have a cache of information for the market to consume to better understand the emerging technology and innovative landscape in healthcare.

What to Expect in 2019

We have high expectations for KLAS etech INSIGHT in 2019. Eventually, the market will be able to access a KLAS etech INSIGHT dynamic resource similar to the Arch Collaborative Learning Center. This will include several types of emerging technology research, including:

• Digest-style reports.
• etech Spotlights (brief market research reports on a single company/technology).
• Podcasts with new company CEOs who have fresh ideas and angles into innovation.
• First-look articles on brand-new technologies and markets that are not yet able to be validated. This resource should become available in the next 18 months and will continue to increase in breadth and depth as it matures over time.

Here is our 2019 road map for KLAS etech INSIGHT in terms of how we plan to start and build the entity’s foundational pieces:

The KLAS etech INSIGHT Advisory Team. Like other members of KLAS’ Advisory Board, these experts will partner with us in our work to find the truth in the market and identify what will be most valuable to HCIT decision makers. Members of the advisory team will act as guardrails and advisors to make sure our strategy, road map, and services are on target with what the market needs.

Identify Top-of-Mind Emerging HCIT Companies. These will include new companies that providers have already been asking about or bringing up in KLAS’ research for our Emerging HCIT Companies reports. KLAS’ ongoing research will give the KLAS etech INSIGHT team an opportunity to keep tabs on the landscape of innovative and emerging companies in healthcare. It will be interesting to see what new companies (and respective hot, new markets) will be highlighted in the coming months and years.

KLAS etech Spotlights: A Validation of Emerging Companies/Technologies. While the Emerging HCIT Companies reports measure market buzz around top-of-mind companies (a listing/directory look), each etech Spotlight will take an early look into a single company (or emerging technology), validate the customer experience through interviews with clients, share an early perspective on the company’s performance, and provide valuable information about the emerging company. Our hope is to publish 30 etech Spotlights (highlighting 30 distinct emerging companies and/or technologies) in 2019.

Tying in the KLAS Summits. Years ago, KLAS thought, “We could make real progress in solving this problem if we could only get the right leaders with the right passion together in one room.” This became the genesis of KLAS Summits. KLAS is uniquely positioned in the market to create neutral spaces for impactful discussions. Over the years, providers, payers, vendors, and investors have helped us create highly reputed events for validating the truth, creating frameworks and road maps to define unclear markets, and improving the industry.

Several of big, traditional HCIT vendors attended our Population Health Summit last year. Before the Summit, we asked ourselves, “Why not invite a few emerging companies in the population health market to participate and bring fresh perspectives on solutions and ways to drive the industry forward?”

That’s exactly what the KLAS etech INSIGHT team did. Afterward, executives from those emerging vendors told us things like, “We are so grateful to be invited to contribute to this conversation!” They felt that their voices were appreciated, and they valued the chance to connect with thought leaders from other companies and entities in population health—all while getting a rare look into the desires and initiatives of healthcare stakeholders. KLAS is continuing to invite some of the most meaningful emerging companies to attend and contribute to our summits.

The Healthcare Innovation Center Consortium. Health system innovation centers are uniquely positioned in the marketplace, often having incredibly close associations with the care delivery/provider organization and a venture fund (or something similar) that are health system–sponsored. This position gives innovation centers a very special view into innovative tools and their adoption, new companies, and their ability to impact healthcare. Our goal is to drive connection, synergy, impacts, and results through an Innovation Center Consortium. This will couple health systems’ thought leadership and key initiatives with the research and services from KLAS etech INSIGHT.

The launch of the Healthcare Innovation Center Consortium will take place at the KLAS Innovation Center Summit 2019 (ICS), a face-to-face event dedicated only to members of the Innovation Center Consortium. This summit will be held the day before (and in conjunction with) this year’s Digital Health Investment Symposium (DHIS 2019). The combination of these events seems natural, since DHIS is an event focused on provider needs around digital health and key investors focused on driving improvement in healthcare. The two summits will take place in September 2019 in Park City, UT.

Accelerating Improvement 

Entrepreneurs, innovators, and visionaries are already racing to deliver and implement technology that can solve the many transformational challenges across the healthcare landscape. KLAS etech INSIGHT aims to give these thought leaders and groups a boost—and a resource that will help validate the real results within the noise. By combining ideas and efforts, the best minds in healthcare IT will be able to drive innovative solutions faster than ever before. Hop in, buckle up, and hold on!


Photo cred: Shutterstock, Dn Rise