The American Medical Association (AMA) is partnering with healthcare equity crowdfunding site RedCrow to drive more collaboration between physicians and startup entrepreneurs and investors.
The two organizations have launched the RedCrow Hub on the AMA’s Physician Innovation Network, an online platform that connects physicians with entrepreneurs to help get physicians involved earlier in the design cycles of new innovations. Through the platform, healthcare startups get insight and feedback from front-line medical care professionals.
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“Overlooking physician requirements is one reason new medical technology may not live up to its promise,” AMA CEO James Madara, M.D., said in a statement. "The AMA believes when physicians and entrepreneurs are aligned on the challenges and opportunities in health care, we can expect meaningful advances from medical technology. The new collaboration brings together the expertise of physicians and the passion of entrepreneurs to develop cutting-edge technology that improves the way the health care system works."
Through the hub, physicians can advise a startup, take a more active role in medical innovation and also invest in the next promising therapy, RedCrow said.
The partnership with RedCrow builds on ongoing efforts by the AMA to foster more collaboration between medical professionals and health technology startups.
Last April, the AMA teamed up with Sling Health, a student-run biotechnology incubator, to launch the clinical problem database on the AMA's Physician Innovation Network. Through that database, physicians are encouraged to submit real-world clinical challenges—processes or workflows in the clinic or hospital that are inefficient and time-consuming or a procedure or condition that could use the help of a device or software, for example. If there are existing tools that need to be augmented or improved, physicians should sound off on those problems, too, AMA and Sling Health said.
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Physicians, entrepreneurs and healthcare companies interested in engaging on the RedCrow Hub can register at no cost and will have full access to the AMA’s Physician Innovation Network, the organizations said.
"We expect the RedCrow Hub to become a vibrant community,” Orrin Ailloni-Charas, M.D., RedCrow’s managing director, said in a statement. “I’m hopeful that physicians will find many opportunities to share their expertise and, perhaps, join startups in areas in which they are passionate."
“In the digital age, it has become extremely important to know who you are interacting with online,” RedCrow CEO Brian Smith said. “The AMA’s Physician Innovation Network gives the RedCrow network the ability to share their expertise with not only our fundraising companies but with any company or individual seeking feedback or validation. Each user can create a robust profile which lends to the credibility and success of this community."