Most digital health startups aren’t creating solutions for the people who need the most help. Just a short distance to Silicon Valley, we know all too well how most solutions are built for affluent customers and are not always appropriate for low-income, ethnically diverse patients.

CCI’s Technology Hub was created to challenge that norm.

Through this initiative, safety net organizations came together as a learning community — becoming the testing grounds for technologies that brought value to care delivery. Participants partnered with tech entrepreneurs and solution developers to evaluate tools tailored to the needs of safety net systems—from digitizing patient engagement and enabling care beyond the clinic, to advancing data analytics, care management, and community-based approaches.

Tech Hubs offered access to live technology demos, site visits to health systems leading in innovation, conferences spotlighting promising solutions, and a simulation platform for testing technologies integrated with electronic health records. Organizations also received hands-on support for dealmaking and vendor contracting.

Though the Technology Hub has since concluded, it helped lay the groundwork for more inclusive digital health innovation—and demonstrated what’s possible when the safety net helps lead the way.