With a tough investing climate for digital health, health system venture capital leaders told Becker’s they’re focused more than ever on return on investment and companies that address unmet needs.
“The macro environment is helping us prioritize solutions that have a tangible ROI and can make a positive impact on patient and provider experience, treatment, outcomes and cost,” said Mayank Taneja, MD, vice president of OSF Ventures, the venture capital arm of Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare.
He said OSF Ventures is focusing its investments on the increasingly popular care-at-home market, looking for “tools and technologies that can help clinicians strengthen their ability to provide care outside the walls of the hospital and to be equally effective in remote care settings.”
Ballad Ventures, part of Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health, has shifted the way it assesses its investments but continues to focus on digital health and workforce initiatives.
“Given the immense pressures on health systems now in terms of staff adequacy and rapidly rising costs, an emerging theme has been a strong emphasis on hard dollar ROI,” said Bo Wilkes, president of Ballad Ventures. “It doesn’t impact how we view our investment thesis but places a stronger emphasis on how we evaluate opportunities moving forward.” Read more.
