Newly formed Advocate Aurora Health has launched partnership with the technology giant Foxconn to expand the health system’s portfolio of digital tools.
The partnership comes several months after Advocate Aurora Health completed a merger that combined Advocate Health Care and Aurora Healthcare. The new system is the 10th-largest health system in the country with 27 hospitals and more than 500 sites of care.
The two organizations plan to focus on improving preventative care and wellness programs, investing in precision medicine and applying a “smart city” concept to healthcare. That approach would use Foxconn’s technology to “connect and display information for patients and doctors across an integrated, highly secure provider network,” similar to the way consumers can access several financial accounts on their smartphone.
“Technology will play a critical role in the future of health and wellness,” Nick Turkal, M.D., Advocate Aurora Health president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are excited about what we can do together to benefit not only our patients and communities here locally, but how our combined capabilities could potentially have a positive impact on wellness globally.”
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Leonard Wu, CEO of Foxconn Health Technology Business Group said the company has used the technology with its own employees to improve health outcomes, adding that “our employees’ health is our top priority.”
Foxconn, which is headquartered in Taiwan and is the country’s largest private employer, has a less than stellar track record when it comes to employee wellness. The company has been at the center of several controversies involving the working conditions dating back to 2010. Several media reports have raised concerns about insufficient overtime pay and worker suicides.
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The organizations have begun planning investments in precision medicine and genomics and expanding the global recruitment to strengthen the healthcare workforce Wisconsin.
The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership, if any, but noted the collaboration is part of Foxconn’s plan to build a $10 billion plant in Wisconsin. The move, which promises to bring 13,000 high-paying jobs, has been criticized by some because it’s heavily laden with tax-payer funded incentives.