While still in their infancy, multiple Gulf South innovators are tackling big problems on a local level, driving jobs to Louisiana and making us all the healthier along the way.
Increasing Access to Healthcare
Rebekah Gee, MD, MPH, FACOG, the former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, witnessed some big issues firsthand as the state expanded Medicaid in 2016.
“Healthcare is a basic human right, and while we have programs in place, access can be difficult,” said Gee. “There is no way for a mother of four, who has premature infants, for example, to receive healthcare for the family without childcare or assistance.
Created in 2022, Nest Health brings in-home primary and mental healthcare visits directly to in-need communities at no additional cost to qualifying families. Pioneered in remote areas in Alaska, Nest Health works with health insurance providers like Blue Cross Blue Shield to identify patients who are not currently receiving primary care and aids through a team of local nurse practitioners, doctors, therapists and family advocates who share a cultural identity with the communities they are serving.
The goals is to make it easier for Louisiana families to get care while also helping to relieve the burden on local hospitals and ERs by preempting preventable injuries. Currently seeking additional funding with plans for growth, Gee hopes to expand their model throughout Louisiana and nationally.
“We are now able to reach thousands of people that were unreachable before,” said Gee. “These gains will greatly benefit the community beyond the immediate monetary savings.”
With recent investments from Ochsner and Tulane, Nest Health has spread its successful model of family care across Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes, with Baton Rouge soon to follow.
Using DNA in A New Way
The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC), a private, nonprofit business incubator, has been supporting biotech businesses since it opened in 2011, offers 66,000 square feet of state-of-the-art wet lab, office and conference space that aims to provide startups with the necessary connections, credibility and capital they need to traverse the path to success and innovation.
One of those startups is Informuta, which in November was named the grand prize winner in NOBIC’s international pitch competition BioChallenge 2024, along with “Audience Favorite.” The company’s technology allows for DNA sequencing to be used to predict if bacteria will respond to different antibiotics or develop future resistance. Informuta’s mission is to revolutionize infectious disease detection.
Co-founded by Dr. Kalen Hall and Dr. Leo Williams of Tulane University, Informuta is just one of dozens of BioInnovation startups maximizing the potential of new technologies to solve age-old medical maladies, revolutionizing the ability of healthcare providers to save more lives more efficiently.
Led by Executive Director Kris Khalil, incubators such as the NOBIC are at the forefront of discoveries and investments and are quickly becoming a national force due to the collaboration of entrepreneurs, institutions and investors.
“What you’re seeing here at the BioInnovation Center is a bridging of the gap between ideas and real-world impact,” said Khalil. “At the end of the day, we have been working to transform healthcare nationwide for more than 12 years and are just getting started”
Connecting Patients and Providers
Communication between healthcare providers is one of the greatest hurdles to efficiency and effective care, with medical error the third leading cause of death in the United States. Poor communication invariably leads to inefficiencies in the United States healthcare system, estimated to lead to $340 billion in losses annually.
Founded in 2013 by Dr. Chip Grant, Watershed Health is dedicated to changing this reality with their platform that connects hospitals and healthcare providers in a collaborative, digital ecosystem. Today, most national health plans utilize Watershed Health, with 8.5 million patients benefitting from its effective and life-saving service.
“After digging into the realities of the current health information exchanges, it became rapidly clear that not only was there not a solution but there wasn’t a promise of a solution,” said Grant. “It was necessity that began Watershed Health.”
A similar lack of digital communication plagues the clinical care industry, where those paying for healthcare are too often blind to provider options or insurance coverage availability. Enter TPN.health, a New Orleans-based healthcare services company that has created a digital platform that connects payers and providers on one, easy-to-use, service.
“Today we are touching 14,800 clinicians just in Louisiana and have expanded to 52,000 nationally on the platform,” said Co-founder and CEO Trevor Colhoun. “Soon, we will be launching that platform to consumers directly in Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas. Louisiana is our home and is where we are making quantum leaps in the technological capacities of behavioral health.”
Jeremy Marshall was born and raised in Baton Rouge before moving to New Orleans with his wife, Kristin, in 2018. Beginning his career in the film/TV industry, Marshall worked steadily on over a dozen projects before transitioning to Renaissance Publishing as sponsored content coordinator. He may be reached via email at jeremy@myneworleans.com.
