According to a May 24 AWS (Amazon Web Services) Public Sector Blog, the company has announced the next AWS Healthcare Accelerator that will focus on health equity. The accelerator launched the same day the blog was published and includes a $40 million commitment that the organization made last September to support customers that are developing solutions to reduce health inequities.
The blog says that “At Amazon Web Services (AWS), we believe the cloud can help address long-standing social and structural disparities that impact health outcomes. While not a panacea, technology-enabled approaches can help organizations enhance and scale the impact of new and emerging interventions to address disparities in health.”
The blog explains that the AWS Healthcare Accelerator, in collaboration with KidsX, is meant to empower startups that focus on improving health equity. The program will support 10 startups with a four-week technical, business, and mentorship program. The startups must be U.S.-based or if they are international, have existing operations in the U.S. The startups will be considered if they focus on one (or more) areas including increasing access to health services, reducing disparities by addressing social determinants of health, and leveraging data to promote equitable and inclusive systems of care.
“The 2022 AWS Healthcare Accelerator is open to all public health solutions,” the blog adds. “Startups with a validated solution, existing customers and revenue, and that use or seek to use AWS to help solve the biggest challenges in public health will be considered to participate in the 2022 cohort.”
That said, “The program provides collaboration opportunities with AWS customers and members of the AWS Partner Network looking for innovative healthcare solutions. Several organizations and institutions will share their expertise and network with our startups. Some of these institutions include: Andreessen Horowitz, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Mass General Brigham, Philips, Rock Health, and ScaleHealth.”
