How a Startup Accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital Helps Launch Companies

Physicians, nurses and others who work on the front lines of patient care are an important potential source for innovations that could improve patients’ health and reduce the cost of care. But turning clinicians into entrepreneurs is anything but easy. Given their day jobs — which at academic medical centers often include research, writing grant proposals, and tending to patients — they have little time. And they often lack much of the expertise needed to transform an idea into a viable product. Boston Children’s Hospital designed an innovation accelerator to overcome these hurdles. While it’s still early days (the accelerator was launched in early 2016), the authors believe that it has scored enough successes to prove that the model can work. In its first year, the accelerator successfully engaged more than 300 clinicians, researchers and administrators — touching more than 25 clinical departments at the hospital. It has accelerated nine projects and spun three of them out as start-up companies that have secured over $2 million in venture funding. This article discusses the elements of Boston Children’s model.