Regence BlueShield, UW Health to anchor innovation complex in Seattle

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Seattle Health insurer Regence BlueShield and the University of Washington Health System will be among the first organizations to join a local complex that aims to foster technology and other innovations that could "transform" the healthcare industry. 

The project, led by Cambia Health Solutions, a health services firm that also owns insurance companies, said the facility will act as a hub for individuals in the healthcare industry to work together on solutions that plague the healthcare industry, such as high costs, lagging care quality and low patient engagement, Cambia announced today.

The 9,000 square-foot Seattle center, called Cambia Grove, will encourage member companies to discuss problems, share ideas for new projects, develop new technologies and navigate the new consumer-focused healthcare market.

The collaboration will expand to include other organizations, big and small, that have a stake in the healthcare business. 

"The creation of the Cambia Grove is an important part of our work to transform healthcare and our responsibility as members of the broader healthcare community. This next step allows us to seek out partners who share our vision of a more consumer-centric and economically sustainable healthcare system," Rob Coppedge, senior vice president of strategic investments for Cambia Health Solutions, said in the announcement.

"Bringing complementary elements together will drive improvements in health care products, technology and services to raise the overall quality of care and shift the focus to the consumer," Nicole Bell, executive director of Cambia, said in the announcement.

The move to create such a facility, with an emphasis on technology, comes at a time when the healthcare industry as a whole is making a push to become more consumer-centric.

The industry must think about how to encourage consumers to make value-based choices, America's Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni said during an address at an AHIP event in the District of Columbia this week. Provider-payer partnerships, she said, will be key.

Technology, too, is a key to improving customer service and improving efficiency and effectiveness with streamlined operations, FierceHealthPayer previously reported.

For more:
- here's the announcement

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