Graphite Health, a new member-led company focused on transforming digital healthcare to improve patient outcomes and lower costs, launched and announced its first three organizing members, SSM Health, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and Intermountain Healthcare. Modeled on Civica Rx, a health utility company, Graphite Health will focus on healthcare interoperability challenges according to their press release.
Building on a common data language, Graphite Health is creating a standardized, interoperable data platform that enables a secure and open marketplace to streamline the distribution of digital health solutions for both health systems and entrepreneurs. For entrepreneurs, the common data language addresses inefficiencies in data translation and supports the development of plug-and-play digital applications. In turn, health system members can implement trusted digital tools as easily as anyone can download an app from an app store to a smartphone. These improvements will lead to more convenience, better quality care, lower costs, and overall efficiency.
“The digital revolution that advanced every industry in the world missed healthcare,” said Dr. Ries Robinson, CEO of Graphite Health and Chief Innovation Advisor at Presbyterian Healthcare Services. “Right now, when a hospital wants to adopt new innovative solutions, it is hampered by overly cumbersome processes that can require years to implement. Graphite Health will offer a true paradigm shift to deliver on the promise of lower costs and faster integration of solutions that significantly improve patient care and experience, while still maintaining the highest privacy standards.”
Fundamental to Graphite Health’s vision is the Digital Hippocratic Oath, which brings the healthcare industry’s core calling into the 21st century and serves as the ethical compass that guides all operations, including their approach to data sharing, integration, and technical processes. The Digital Hippocratic Oath is not just a steering principle – it’s a foundational element that allows Graphite Health to build trust between patients, doctors, health systems, and app developers, facilitating better outcomes throughout healthcare.
“Healthcare is too expensive and inconvenient,” said Dan Liljenquist, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of Intermountain Healthcare. “By embracing the collective membership approach, and committing to our Digital Hippocratic Oath, we will ensure patients are treated as people rather than products. By doing so, Graphite Health will accelerate access to valuable digital tools that can deliver better health care outcomes at a lower cost.”
There are numerous digital solutions on the market, but it’s currently difficult for healthcare systems to adopt them. Health systems spend up to two years on average implementing new apps; negotiating the contracts and evaluating the security protocols alone can take more than six months. This impractical process means systems have to fully commit to the adoption of a new digital tool long before they can make meaningful use of it. Graphite Health will overcome these challenges through the collective power, scale, knowledge, and commitment of its health system members.
Graphite Health anticipates bringing additional healthcare systems and philanthropies into their coalition in the coming months, and partnering with leading technology innovators. Because one system alone cannot effectively drive the change needed, Graphite Health mirrors Civica Rx’s member-led, collective approach, which empowers the systems to scale resources and own their transformations. In just two and a half years, Civica Rx has organized more than a third of U.S. hospitals to ensure quality medicines are accessible and affordable to everyone.
