Announcing Edison Nation Medical!
Jennifer ThomasStaff Writer- Charlotte Business JournalEmail | Twitter
Carolinas HealthCare System wants to turn the innovative ideas of its physicians, nurses and patients into health-care improvements with a nationwide impact.
The Charlotte-based health-care system and product-developer Edison Nation have formed a joint venture that hopes to convert those ideas into tangible medical products and processes.
The initiative, called Edison Nation Medical, promises to stimulate innovation in health care by commercializing viable ideas, says Louis Foreman, chief executive of Edison Nation and Edison Nation Medical.
“Having the idea is the easy part,” he says. “Turning an invention into an innovation requires the execution.”
The venture will blend Carolinas HealthCare’s medical expertise with Charlotte-based Edison Nation’s track record of bringing products to market. But potential inventors won’t be limited to the health-care system; ideas from around the globe will be considered.
Edison Nation Medical will be based here.
Edison Nation has 58 employees, and Foreman expects to add a dozen positions related to the new venture.
The health-care industry faces mounting pressure to improve its efficiency, costs and quality, notes Michael Tarwater, chief executive of Carolinas HealthCare.
“There’s no one idea that’s going to come out of here that will solve the problem,” he says. “But hundreds or thousands of ideas will make a dent.”
Innovation needs to become a central part of Carolinas HealthCare’s culture, with the system becoming a national leader in that arena, he adds. Tarwater believes the health-care system is poised to accelerate those efforts through this venture.
Carolinas HealthCare is the second-largest public system in the nation, with 33 hospitals it owns, leases or manages across the Carolinas. With the Edison National Medical venture, the system will encourage its 48,000-plus employees to become innovators.
Jennifer Thomas covers health care, biotech, education and retail for the Charlotte Business Journal.
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