Entrepreneurial ecosystems, healthcare incumbents ⇄ startups, AI, nurse practitioners...

Healthcare through a Kentucky lens. Yeah, it's niche. But neat!

Author

Andrew Steen
April 07, 2026

Holding down the fort here in Louisville.

Two cool things people asked me not to talk about yet, so… 🤐 

 

Tech-Enabled Healthcare Services

If you know me, you know that tech-enabled healthcare services have long been—dare I say it—my jam.

Tech-Enabled Healthcare Services Will Be the Winners of the AI Era

Alyssa Jaffee is a Partner at 7wire Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on digital health companies that empower individuals to take an active role in managing their health.

Second Opinion • Alyssa Jaffee

We can do tech-enabled healthcare services here.

Example given; homegrown and still Louisville-based 3DR Labs.

Speaking of homegrown…

"The median annual wage for registered nurses in the U.S. is $93,600, compared with $49,500 for all occupations, according to the Labor Department. For nurse practitioners and others with advanced degrees, it is $132,050.”

Nursing Is the Surefire New Path to American Prosperity

Plentiful jobs and potential six-figure incomes draw young people as other industries falter; ‘modern middle-class jobs engine’

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/nursing-jobs-pay-prosperity-b2769391?st=8oK3Xf

Shared this last week in a different context; Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneurship Report 2024 by Chris Turitzin.

Double down with support, Louisville.

Colonoscopy patient outreach

This caught my attention. Why?

Atlantic Health Reduces Colonoscopy Screening Gaps Using Artera's AI Agents

/PRNewswire/ -- Colorectal cancer is expected to claim the lives of more than 55,000 Americans in 20262. Despite the fact that early-stage detection carries a...

Artera

From circa 2019—work by a local startup, MedaPrep, and UofL:

MedaPrep is no more, but this is an example of a healthcare incumbent helping to validate a concept. We need more of that.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems

“Our finding that hospitals serve as platforms for testing and validating healthcare innovations while acting as hubs for collaboration, resilience, and also the internationalization of the ecosystem, is [in] line with previous literature,” from Healthcare organizations in entrepreneurial ecosystems: an integrative framework and future research agenda.

More of that, Louisville.
Incumbent healthcare organizations, help local startups get signal.

Hold the Mayo

Pretty cool.

Accelerating AI innovation in healthcare: real-world clinical research applications on the Mayo Clinic Platform - npj Health Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds promise for healthcare, but real-world implementation remains difficult. The Mayo clinic platform (MCP) addresses this by providing scalable, multi-institutional, de-identified data and analytical tools. Through four research projects, we demonstrate MCP’s ability to support efficient cohort identification, AI model development, and real-world evidence generation. MCP enables broader accessibility and standardization compared to institutional EHRs, positioning it as a powerful platform for advancing translational research and precision medicine.

Nature

Speaking of AI innovation in healthcare

Oh, and bitcoin.

Our next Louisville Health Innovation Meetup is Tuesday, April 14 at Mashup Food Hall.

​Gil Roberts will give a short talk titled “Healthcare Innovation: Bitcoin & AI.” You'll want to hear it. But you have to register at the link below.

Louisville Health Innovation Meetup · Luma

We connect the people building the future of healthcare in Louisville. Interested in healthcare, healthtech, digital health, the life sciences and adjacent…

luma.com/odr4mlb6

Sign up. Then show up!

Nothing AI generated.
Rock on.