The New Orleans Business Alliance and two of the region’s largest healthcare organizations—Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Ochsner Health System— announced they are looking for new partners to address critical behavioral health needs for their customers.

The team is currently accepting applications for the 2020 New Orleans Health Innovators Challenge. The Health Innovators Challenge is a nationwide call for startups to offer solutions to significant healthcare problems. Applicants compete to win cash prizes, opportunities to pilot programs in some of the region’s largest medical institutions and in-kind donations. Applications must be submitted online at www.nolaba.org/challenge by Jan. 15, 2020.

This year’s challenge is to develop a targeted intervention addressing social isolation in the aging adult population. In just 10 years, the number of people in the United States age 65 and older increased from 37.2 million to 52 million. With more seniors choosing to age in place and live alone, addressing the prevalence of social isolation has become a global health priority.

“Growth stage companies need talent, funding capital and customers as they make their case to investors and strategic partners. The Health Innovators Challenges directly addresses the funding capital and customer validation needs,” said Quentin L. Messer., Jr., president and CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance. “With Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Ochsner Health System, we are proud to invite the world’s leading entrepreneurs focused on behavioral health to present their solutions here in New Orleans and begin to transform lives globally, using New Orleans as a launching pad.”

“Through our partnership with Ochsner Health System and New Orleans Business Alliance, we’ve been able to discover emerging ideas and technology that have the potential to improve the services we offer our members, as well as bring more innovation to the healthcare industry in our state,” said Darrell Langlois, chief strategy and innovation officer at BCBSLA. “As we enter the third year of this challenge, we’re very excited to learn from those proposing innovative ideas to address social isolation, which is a growing behavioral health need that affects overall health, particularly for our members 65 and older.”  

“Ochsner Health System and innovationOchsner (iO) are passionate about using innovation to build a healthier, stronger community,” said Aimee Quirk, CEO of iO. “We have identified social isolation as an important factor that affects not only quality of life but also health and health outcomes. As a result, we are challenging innovators to come forward with creative ideas to solve this issue and help us develop new interventions to save and change more lives and improve individual and population health.”

Additional challenges presented by Tulane Health System, Lafayette General Health, LCMC Health’s New Orleans East Hospital, Tulane University, the City of New Orleans Health Department and the Claiborne Corridor Cultural Innovation District can be found at www.nolaba.org/challenge.

“How do we redefine health in a way that will move the needle?” Aimee Quirk asked at the New Orleans Health Innovators launch as she challenged entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions that are affordable and scalable for users.

The New Orleans Health Innovators Challenge was created in 2017 by the New Orleans Business Alliance, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Ochsner Health System to drive healthcare innovation and investment in New Orleans by creating a community where doctors, patients, nurses, hospital leaders, scientists, designers and leaders can collaborate, connect and co-create the future of medicine for New Orleans and beyond.

About the New Orleans Business Alliance
One of fewer than 70 Accredited Economic Development Organizations worldwide, the New Orleans Business Alliance is the official 501(c)(3) not-for-profit economic development organization created as the partnership between the City of New Orleans and the business community to enhance the economic security of all New Orleanians by diversifying the local economy, developing local talent and expanding entrepreneurial opportunity. Through an inclusive economic development strategy, we will create the perfect intersection of culture and commerce resulting in more equity and greater prosperity for all. Learn more at nolaba.org.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. We invest both time and money in the communities we serve, supporting the health and wellbeing of Louisianians through more than 200 charitable organizations. To learn more, visit our website at www.bcbsla.com.

About Ochsner Health System
Ochsner Health System is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner’s 30 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and more than 80 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Hospital” across three specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner employs more than 19,000 employees and over 1,200 physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties, and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. For more information, please visit ochsner.org.