South Texas Blood & Tissue Center to be focus of Harvard case study
San Antonio, Texas (PRWEB) February 05, 2015 -- What do Harvard University, blood and a Dallas-based health care technology startup have in common?
The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center!
Once again taking the lead in cutting-edge medical research, STBTC and BioBridge Global will figure prominently in a case study that will be presented by the Harvard Business and Medical Schools at the Forum on Healthcare Innovation conference in April. A researcher from Harvard Business School will be touring STBTC operations on Friday, Feb. 6, to gather information to write the study.
The road to Harvard began with STBTC’s participation in a pilot program by Bloodbuy, a Dallas-based health care technology company. It connects hospitals that need blood with the blood centers that have it via a cloud-based ordering system that enables blood supply-chain efficiency and pricing transparency.
Bloodbuy began its pilot with STBTC last fall. STBTC assisted the company by implementing and troubleshooting its platform and using its 40 years’ worth of expertise at filling hospital orders to help Bloodbuy improve its cloud-based application.
“STBTC was a clear choice to participate in our pilot program because of the organization’s forward-thinking approach to problem-solving and interest in helping patients anywhere it can,” said Chris Godfrey, founder and CEO of Bloodbuy.
“Our mission is to bring hope to patients and their families – in Texas and beyond,” said Elizabeth Waltman, COO of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. “We were thrilled when Bloodbuy approached us to help them refine their business because it means the generosity of our donors can reach those in need anywhere in the nation.”
Also last year, Bloodbuy entered the inaugural Health Acceleration Challenge, sponsored by Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School. According to its website, the contest focused on compelling, already-implemented health care solutions with potential for growth.
Bloodbuy is one of four finalists out of nearly 500 entries from around the world, which means it will share in a $150,000 prize. The case study Harvard Business School writes about it will be presented at the invitation-only Forum on Health Care Innovation conference this April. If Bloodbuy is selected as the winner at the conference, it’ll be awarded additional prize money and further recognition of its innovative platform.
Godfrey of Bloodbuy says he’s confident his company has a good chance at winning the big prize with the help of STBTC.
“The technical input and user feedback we’ve received from STBTC team members has been integral in shaping Bloodbuy into the innovative technology solution that it is today,” he said.
Waltman added that having a role in this type of innovation reinforces two key points about STBTC:
“We are more than a blood bank. The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center is a major player in the future of health care, as evidenced in this project and other recent projects such as assisting in Ebola therapeutic research,” she said. “And we are patient-centric. If there’s an opportunity to help someone down the road, across the country or on the other side of the world, we have the capability and desire to do it.”
About BioBridge Global:
BioBridge Global (BBG) is a San Antonio-based nonprofit organization that offers diverse services in regenerative medicine, blood banking and biologic testing. Its subsidiaries – the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, QualTex Laboratories and GenCure – provide products and services including blood collection, cellular therapy, umbilical cord blood and tissue services as well as testing of blood, plasma and tissue products for clients in the United States and worldwide. BBG is an outgrowth of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, which has a proud history of serving the South Texas region and beyond for more than 40 years. BBG is committed to supporting groundbreaking research, addressing unmet clinical needs and enabling the development and commercialization of novel biotechnology products. Visit us at biobridgeglobal.org.
Carmen Davila, BioBridge Global and Subsidiaries, http://www.biobridgeglobal.org, +1 210-731-5520, [email protected]
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