Nothing exists in isolation.
When we set out several years ago with the audaciously ambitious goal to transform the healthcare system, we knew we could never do it alone. No one company could ‘disrupt’ healthcare; it would require the creation of an ecosystem of partners, motivated behind a shared vision to create a system that was more accessible, proactive and affordable. We didn’t want to just catalyze change; we wanted to create a movement. That required getting people to join us.
Today, we arrive at a milestone in that journey, with the announcement of our inaugural group of 15 healthsystem strategic partners: HCA Healthcare, Jefferson Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Wellspan Health, Guy’s & St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, Cincinnati Children’s, UC Davis Health, UCI Health, Health First, Metro Health, Medical University of South Carolina Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Banner Health, Universal Health Services, and OhioHealth.
Each of these systems is a market leader in their own right, all having demonstrated the ability to respond to emerging healthcare challenges through dynamic leadership and innovative approaches. Together, this ecosystem serves approximately 10% of the entire United States population across 43 states–where the digital transformation of care can have a profound impact on the accessibility, quality and cost of care for millions of people.
Importantly, these systems also represent the diversity of the healthcare marketplace–with different geographic footprints, patient populations, areas of specialization and care models. This is by design; we believe that only by understanding the nuanced needs of each type of system can we ultimately create next generation platforms that work for all of them. We believe that the cross-pollination of learnings that will come from this group can be a powerful antidote to today’s broken and siloed system.
No such strategic ecosystem has ever existed before. It is a real testament to the visionary system CEOs who share our commitment to ‘radical collaboration’--realizing that the best way to transform care is by bridging the distance between technology innovators and the point of care. GC is in a unique position to work alongside them as an embedded strategic collaborator, with the ability to tap into the 90+ healthcare companies in our portfolio and beyond, and with the aim of creating the right technology platforms to accelerate the digital transformation of care.
We are looking forward to sharing the best practices that crystallize from these collaborations with the broader healthcare ecosystem stakeholders.
None of this would be possible without some truly exceptional people:
– First and foremost is Daryl Tol, our head of Health Assurance Ecosystem, who leads our partnership efforts and who has been the catalyzing force behind our exceptional progress. Daryl joined GC just 6 months ago from Advent Health, one of the largest hospital systems in the US. As President, he led their transformation agenda, identifying the frustrations patients should never endure, and then recasting them as a set of positive experiences patients should come to expect. His first-hand operational knowledge, category insight and genuine empathy has made him an indispensable partner to our health system CEOs as they seek to affect meaningful change at scale.
– The depth of expertise and exceptional bench strength of the GC health assurance team: investors Chris Bischoff, Holly Maloney, Quentin Clark, Elena Viboch, Candace Richardson, Brian Ru, Anand Chandrasekaran, Reva Nohria, Pranay Orugunta, Alexandre Momeni, Julie Gupta, Lydia Liu, and Mo Punjwani; our Health Assurance Partnerships Engagement Manager Harish Battu; plus our amazing group of Catalyst Advisors and other resident experts like Dr. Steve Klasko, Robin Washington, Ken Frazier, Dr. Ron Paulus... which soon will also include Dr. Marc Harrison, who intends to joins us in January.
– Our amazing healthcare founders and CEOs, who have come together within our Health Assurance network
– And, of course, the visionary health system CEOs who have placed their faith in us–including Sam Hazen from HCA, who set this movement in motion when he signed on as GC’s very first healthcare partner in August 2021.
True to our name, we like to think of ourselves as ‘agents of change’--transforming companies, industries and society at large. We hope to be a true catalyst in co-creating category-defining solutions and bringing us one step closer to our vision of Health Assurance for all.
Now the real work begins.
–Hemant and the GC Health Assurance Team
__________________________________________________________________________________
A bit more on our exceptional 15 inaugural partners below, listed alphabetically.
With 30 hospitals across 6 states, Banner Health endeavors to leverage General Catalyst’s Health Assurance ecosystem to aggressively pursue its value-based care path.
General Catalyst’s first pediatric partnership, Cincinnati Children’s, has been at the forefront of employing telehealth to streamline care delivery and expand patient access.
As the inaugural international partnership and largest hospital system in the United Kingdom, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is well-positioned to drive transformation and usher in a new model of healthcare.
Hackensack Meridian Health is the leading not-for-profit truly integrated healthcare system serving New Jersey that aspires to become a human-centered enterprise of care, as illustrated by its launch of a hospital-at-home program for Medicare patients.
HCA Healthcare is a system with approximately 2,000 sites of care dispersed throughout 21 states and has showcased the power of its outstanding IT operation and culture of innovation by creating PatientKeeper—a physician workflow software that was acquired by Commure.
As Florida’s not-for-profit community health system with a geriatric focus, Health First is the leading Medicare Advantage plan in their market, boasts a distinct full-service primary care model, and has redefined the hospital experience via its wellness villages vision.
With 33 hospitals, Intermountain Healthcare is the largest provider in the Intermountain West of the United States, with a record of partnering to build the best-in-class digital tools, like Castell Health—a platform created to accelerate the value-based care capability for physician practices and health systems.
Jefferson Health, a system serving the greater Philadelphia area, is rooted in health equity and has proved to be a champion of tech-enabled health care—it was an early customer of Livongo, has partnered in the creation of Commure, and has been an instrumental co-developer of Tendo.
Serving a rural and suburban population, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Health is a comprehensive Academic Medical Center which will facilitate innovation from the education system through the healthcare front door.
Cleveland’s safety net hospital, MetroHealth is at the frontlines of the opioid epidemic, has internally launched start-ups to innovatively address their pain points, and is a determined champion of health equity.
OhioHealth, a not-for-profit system serving the greater Columbus area, is committed to addressing challenges with its New Ventures and Business Incubation arm and co-developing solutions.
With its established innovation arm, Digital CoLab, UC Davis Health is equipped to drive health equity through innovation and collaboration with existing contracted General Catalyst portfolio companies, Olive and Aidoc, and beyond—to truly serve as trailblazers within the UC system.
In collaboration with UC Davis Health, UCI Health, with its Institute for Precision Health, will spearhead the transformation of UC health system entities to deliver exceptional care and precision medicine across California.
As the largest facility-based behavioral health provider in the United States, Universal Health Services is strongly aligned with General Catalyst’s investments in this space.
Wellspan Health is a not-for-profit integrated health system serving the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States with a focus on health equity, innovating care models, and facilitating growth in the personalized healthcare space.
