CHICAGO – September 17, 2019 – Five startups in the health information management (HIM) field pitched their ideas for a new product, service or business that harnesses health data and information to advance healthcare at the AHIMA19: Health Data and Information Conference Monday. The winner, Drugviu, presented their population health platform that empowers communities of color to use their data to improve health outcomes.

The American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) Pitch Competition, hosted in collaboration with MATTER, the health technology incubator based in Chicago, underscored the conference’s focus on innovation and change. The event served as an opportunity to inspire creative thinking at AHIMA19 and provide startups with a platform to present their health data and information solutions to a group of leading HIM experts.

Only six percent of clinical trials and research involves minorities. Drugviu, which received $5,000 for winning the competition, aims to end this underrepresentation and improve health outcomes among minority communities by sourcing more minorities into clinical trials, providing education tailored to people of color and empowering people to share their medication experiences with their online community engagement platform.

“This award money will allow us to pursue our mission of expanding the data set of medication and health experiences to include minorities,” said Drugviu CEO Kwaku Owusu.

“Innovations that help connect people, health systems and ideas are key to improving health outcomes,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE. “With the inaugural AHIMA pitch competition, we’re putting the power to impact health in the hands of enterprising HIM professionals who are developing solutions to advance the healthcare industry. We congratulate Drugviu on their impressive platform to engage more minorities in clinical trials and research.”

Valhalla Healthcare received second place, winning $2,500 for their product Allevia™, a fully patient-driven, AI-powered intake solution that automates clinical documentation for healthcare providers. Uppstroms received third place and $1,500 for their machine-learning application that addresses upstream social risk for promoting better health.

Additional semi-finalists included:

• Smarter Health: A digital health startup aimed at transforming the way people collaborate to improve value-based healthcare
• Tapcloud: A remote patient monitoring and engagement platform that helps patients and their clinicians achieve better health outcomes

“The best solutions to improve the healthcare experience are developed through collaboration between entrepreneurs and industry leaders,” said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. “Winning this competition is a great recognition for Drugviu and gives them the opportunity to work closely with leading health information professionals to further develop their solution.”

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About AHIMA
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association of health information (HI) professionals. AHIMA represents professionals who work with health data for more than one billion patient visits each year. AHIMA’s mission of empowering people to impact health drives our members and credentialed HI professionals to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers. Our leaders work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, and are found in data integrity and information privacy job functions worldwide.