Hartford Business Journal

HCH 14 Hartford Business Journal • November 16, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com HEALTH CARE HEROES 2020 HONOREE CATEGORY: CORPORATE ACHIEVEMENT — INNOVATION Connecticut Children's I n July, Connecticut Children's entered into an ambitious new business venture that could be its most significant to date. The hospital, working with a pri- vate-equity backed company called Guidehouse, formed a joint venture company called Children's Health Consortium that aims to provide revenue cycle management services to a dozen or more U.S. pediatric hospitals over the coming years. The venture doesn't involve any upfront capital commitment from Connecticut Children's. Instead, the hospital will transfer approximately 170 back-office employees to the new company. Revenue cycle management includes the software and pro- cesses used by providers and their vendors to document, bill for and collect on services provided. While the need for revenue cycle employees can fluctuate from month to month, they are a fixed expense for Connecticut Children's and many other U.S. standalone pediatric hos- pitals that the new company hopes to court as equity partners. The consortium allows Con- necticut Children's revenue cycle employees to pick up the slack dur- ing busy periods for other member hospitals, and vice versa. The shared ownership model is meant to seize on economies of scale, and equity members will only pay the new company for the services they've received, rather than shouldering the fixed salary and benefit costs of an entire department alone. HONOREE CATEGORY: ADVANCEMENT IN HEALTHCARE — INNOVATION The Jackson Laboratory F rom the very early stages of the pandemic, Jackson Labo- ratory (JAX) has been helping address COVID-19 not only in Con- necticut, but around the world. From testing patient samples for healthcare providers, developing mouse models for COVID-19 research, assisting labs around the world to continue their research during the pandemic, to its own research on CO- VID-19 immunity and antibodies, JAX has been at the scientific forefront in combating coronavirus. In March, JAX offered assistance in supporting Connecticut's abil- ity to quickly ramp up diagnostic testing capabilities. This effort has grown to JAX supporting COVID-19 testing for approximately 20% of Connecticut's tested population. JAX plays a role in maintaining and distributing genetically defined mouse models to the global scientific com- munity for testing safe and effective therapeutics and vaccines, and to un- derstand more about human disease. When the pandemic arose, JAX knew there would be a significant and immediate need for mouse models for COVID-19. In order to meet that demand, JAX acted quickly to generate the model researchers around the world are using to study COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. In addition, JAX faculty mem- bers are helping better understand the virus by studying the immune response to COVID-19, determining disease susceptibility and progres- sion in patients. HONOREE CATEGORY: ADVANCEMENT IN HEALTHCARE — INNOVATION Dr. Chris Carroll Pediatric Critical Care Physician, Researcher Connecticut Children's Medical Center D r. Chris Carroll has long been interested in social media and its use for educating and in- forming both clinicians and patients. He founded and led social media committees for several healthcare organizations and currently serves as deputy editor for web and multi- media for the journal CHEST, where he coordinates a multidisciplinary team of staff and volunteers to pro- duce multimedia content related to medical education, pulmonary and critical care topics. During the pandemic, Carroll used the power of social media to measure and inform medical deci- sions during the height of COVID. He served on the American Col- lege of CHEST Physicians taskforce, coordinating their web and multi- media efforts that included frequent webinars, blogs, podcasts and edu- cational infographics disseminated via social media platforms. Additionally, Carroll conducted re- search examining how social media can be used to effectively commu- nicate and collaborate in a way that helps combat misinformation, and quickly spreads useful data and news to stakeholders around the world. Carroll is also researching how COVID-19 is affecting children both directly and indirectly in Connecti- cut and in the U.S. He is one of the principal investigators researching COVID-19 at Connecticut Children's, where he is trying to determine the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and how best to treat it. HONOREE CATEGORY: ADVANCEMENT IN HEALTHCARE — INNOVATION MakerspaceCT Devra Sisitsky, Executive Director H artford's MakerspaceCT is the state's largest maker- space offering prospective inventors, manufacturers, entre- preneurs, hobbyists and students with access to tools, technology, equipment and resources to design and prototype new products. Responding to the critical short- age of personal protective equip- ment for healthcare workers and first responders, MakerspaceCT — led by Executive Director Devra Sisitsky — launched an effort to manufacture PPE, and has pro- duced 12,000 face shields from design to delivery. MakerspaceCT developed and produced two versions of face shields, one of which was 3D printed. MakerspaceCT sourced needed materials, expedited pro- duction, and collected products for post-processing, assembly and distribution. Completed face shields were de- livered to healthcare and emergen- cy personnel, and facilities across the state. As Sisitsky described it: "Makers are innately resourceful; they can look at a problem and craft solu- tions from virtually thin air." "Our shop staff has been working tirelessly," she added. "We have a community of makers working to source materials, design and im- prove prototypes, assemble prod- ucts, and quickly get the products to the people who need them to support our communities."

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