Houston Methodist has teamed up with Houston technology innovation space, ION, to establish a health care tech innovation centre.
For Ion, Houston Methodist, a leading hospital in Houston, is its first health care-focused partner.
The hospital will build a 1,200ft2 space, called Tech Hub, which will be modelled after its Center for Innovation Technology Hub.
The Center for Innovation Technology Hub, which opened in 2020, is located at Houston Methodist’s Texas Medical Center.
Expected to open later this year, Tech Hub will showcase the latest in health care innovation.
Ion executive director Jan Odegard said: “Partnering with Houston Methodist’s Center for Innovation is exciting. This also will advance the Ion’s ability to support entrepreneurs and innovators that are already at the Ion as we embark on a new focus in health care innovation.”
Tech hub will first be utilised for informational and educational programming, networking with tenants and entrepreneurs, and hosting open houses for the community to understand how Houston Methodist is ‘shaping patient-centered health care for the future’.
Through this partnership, the hospital will boost the work of its Center for Innovation to offer a living laboratory environment to ‘experience’ the latest innovations in patient-focused health care technology, including remote monitoring, ambient intelligence and virtual reality.
The space at the Ion, which has been developed by Rice Management Company on behalf of Rice University, will showcase how existing and future technology can work together in a hospital environment.
Houston Methodist vice president of innovation and information technology applications Michelle Stansbury said: “We are advancing the evolution of the hospital’s role in health care through digital transformation.”
Rice president Reggie DesRoches said: “Building new relationships and resources can expand digital innovation in health care.” Houston Methodist and Rice University have a several collaborations, including Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics and Interfaces, and the Houston Methodist-Rice University Center for Human Performance that is currently under construction on Rice’s campus.
