Baptist Health Innovations bolsters South Florida as a healthcare innovation hub

Baptist Health Innovations has been a limited investor in Triventures - a venture fund with offices in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv - and provided training on innovation to its employees and other South Florida professionals. It also negotiated a master intellectual property agreement with Florida International University. These are only a few ways Baptist Health Innovations stimulates healthcare innovation, and helps establish South Florida as an innovation hub.

Baptist Health has become a leading innovator in healthcare across the country. Fortune has named Baptist Health to its list of America's most innovative companies for 2023. Fortune partnered with Statista, a market research and data firm, to compile this list. It recognizes 300 companies that are "transforming industries from the inside-out," according to Fortune. The list was compiled based on three categories, including product innovation, process innovations and innovation cultures. Baptist Health was ranked No. Baptist Health ranked No. 16 among 57 hospitals and healthcare systems across the United States. It is also the only Florida system to make the list.

Baptist Health encourages healthcare innovation

Dr. Barry Katzen was the chief medical innovator at Baptist Health. He is also chief medical executive at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. When he launched Baptist Health's innovation efforts, he wanted to establish a culture of innovation and build up the capability within Baptist Health. Mark Coticchia was recruited by him and other Baptist Health leaders as corporate vice-president of innovation. The new unit, Baptist Health Innovations, was named after the two. In this pairing, Katzen is the clinical leader for innovation while Coticchia is the business leader. This complementary pairing allows Baptist Health to achieve its goal of promoting innovative healthcare.

Baptist Health has big goals in leveraging data and its operational and clinical know-how. It developed its innovation strategy in order to enhance its top-notch healthcare delivery.

South Florida is a hub of healthcare innovation

Baptist Health Innovations helps to turn South Florida into a hub for healthcare innovation.

Miami is one of the top metro areas in the country for venture capital. The amount flowing into the region is increasing. Coticchia said that South Florida was becoming a popular destination for entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders. "We are the largest healthcare system in the region and we lead the way when it comes to healthcare innovation," said Coticchia.

Miami-Dade Beacon Council is one of the business contacts Baptist Health Innovations enjoys in the area. Greg Horowitz is vice president of Economic Development, Life Sciences and Healthcare at The Beacon Council. He considers Baptist Health Innovations a key partner who helps The Beacon Council achieve its goals. Baptist Health Innovations, for example, arranged meetings between council members and medical innovation companies when they traveled to Israel in the past year.

Horowitz stated that "we made many connections, including those focused on eldercare which is a major focus for Baptist Health as well as us."

A valuable partner for economic growth in South Florida

Baptist Health Innovations is comprised of a team of world-class professionals with experience in technology transfer and innovation. Coticchia noted that this team has capabilities that few other U.S. Innovation Offices have -- "Even more than many healthcare systems who have longer-standing innovations functions," he stressed.

South Florida benefits from the dynamic team that includes Coticchia, Nila Bhakuni and assistant vice president of innovation. The Knight Foundation Fellowship in Healthcare Technology Innovation launched by Baptist Health Innovations in 2020 provides entrepreneurial training to innovators within and outside Baptist Health. The program will train 150 South Florida professionals on innovation and entrepreneurship by 2026.

Triventures, a limited partner of Baptist Health Innovations, is another example of how the investment has impacted South Florida. Triventures, a venture capital fund for South Florida healthcare startups, has been introduced by Baptist Health Innovations.

Baptist Health is a large healthcare organization that relies on a number of innovative and entrepreneurial doctors. Baptist Health professionals work to turn the organization into an educational medical center in order to allow even more innovation. Baptist Health Innovations did the legwork to get Baptist Health into an intellectual property master agreement with Florida International University.

Horowitz stated that he worked closely with the Innovations Team. They're not only buying innovations or soliciting product from vendors, they're also making large-scale strategic investments in tech and partnering with organizations around the globe.

"Baptist Health has been a valuable partner in all that we do," Horowitz continued. Their work in innovation helps achieve our goals. It also benefits the wider community, which we appreciate.

Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare provider in the region with 12 hospitals and over 27,000 employees and more than 4,000 doctors, is spread across Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, Broward County, Palm Beach County, and other nearby counties.