Ilyssa Drumm

From hosting live pitch events for entrepreneurs from across the country to bringing together top health care industry officials to discuss the future of health care, the GuideWell Innovation Center, located in Orlando’s Lake Nona Medical Center, has grown from a building and a concept into a nationally-recognized hub for health care innovation. Today marks an exciting milestone for GuideWell Innovation Center as it celebrates the five-year anniversary since opening its doors.

GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell), the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care first opened its doors in 2016. The 30,000 square-foot center provides state-of-the-art co-working and meeting space and has become an epicenter of innovation and collaboration. In the last five years, the team has hosted 1,500 events and welcomed 25,000 visitors, including health care industry leaders, government officials, and a host of guest speakers.

A South Florida organization dedicated to empowering student health ambassadors has taken top honors in a statewide innovation challenge to address health access and equality. Health Information Project (HIP) was awarded a $40,000 grand prize in the GuideWell Reshaping Health Access Challenge, a statewide competition focused on addressing health disparities in Florida.

Fourteen Florida organizations dedicated to improving health equity will face off in the GuideWell Reshaping Health Access Challenge virtual state finals on Wed., Oct. 28 for an opportunity to win a grand prize of $40,000 in funding to further their efforts to help achieve health access or health literacy in their respective community. The 14 finalists were selected after pitching their solutions to a panel of judges at one of four regional pitch events held virtually in mid-September.

GuideWell issued the statewide challenge to entrepreneurs, nonprofits, innovators and organizations to seek innovative ideas for improving health disparities – an issue that has long existed and that has become more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent civic unrest and racial tension across the country.

GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell), the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care, announced 13 health-tech companies from across the nation will showcase solutions that address some of the major challenges of the current health pandemic today at the GuideWell COVID-19 Health Innovation Collaborative Showcase. A virtual substance abuse support system and an AI-powered COVID-19 symptom attestation platform are among the concepts and prototypes that will be featured.

All of the ideas focus on increasing the scope and scale of resources to reduce the complex stress factors COVID-19 is having on our country’s health care system.

GuideWell today selected four organizations to receive seed money to implement their innovative ideas to address barriers to health access and health literacy in West Florida. Starting Right, Now, Tampa Family Health Centers, Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative and Preeclampsia Foundation were selected from a group of 10 regional innovators across West Florida to receive $5,000 in funding. In addition, they will advance to GuideWell’s Reshaping Health Access challenge finals where they’ll have the opportunity to compete for a $40,000 state grand prize. Funds will be used to address health and racial inequities that exist in their respective local communities.

The four innovative ideas from West Florida advancing to the finals include:

GuideWell has selected four South Florida organizations to receive seed money to implement their innovative ideas to address barriers to health access and health literacy. Student ACES, Epilepsy Florida, T. LeRoy Jefferson Medical Society, and the Health Information Project, Inc. (HIP) were selected from a group of 10 regional innovators across South Florida to receive $5,000 in funding. In addition, they will advance to GuideWell’s Reshaping Health Access challenge finals where they’ll have the opportunity to compete for a $40,000 state grand prize. Funds will be used to address health and racial inequities that exist in their respective local communities. The groups were selected after a virtual pitch competition that was held on Friday, September 18.

Guiding members on the next right thing to do in their health care journey…

That’s the goal at Onlife Health, one of GuideWell’s consumer-engagement businesses, providing health and wellness solutions to 13 million health plan members across 13 states through their user-friendly engagement platform.

The health and wellness company, which serves health plans and employers across the country, is committed to delivering a personalized wellness program to help members achieve their personal health goals.

But Onlife Health acknowledges that helping someone make improvements to their diet or exercise routine cannot be done without first understanding that person’s social determinants of health (SDoH), the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work and play that can affect health outcomes.

GuideWell today selected three Central Florida organizations to receive seed money to implement their innovative ideas to address barriers to health access and health literacy. The Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention, the Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center and the Center for Quality Medication Management at the University of Florida were selected from a group of 10 regional innovators across Central Florida to receive $5,000 in funding. In addition, they will advance to GuideWell’s Reshaping Health Access challenge finals where they’ll have the opportunity to compete for a $40,000 state grand prize. Funds will be used to address health and racial inequities that exist in their respective local communities.

The three innovative ideas from Central Florida organizations advancing to the finals include:

Welcoming a new baby can be a special time in a parent’s life. It can also be overwhelming when things don’t go according to plan.

That’s what happened to Dion Moffett. His daughter was born three months early, weighing one pound and five ounces. Fortunately, his baby girl beat the odds, but she required a three-month hospitalization that left Dion’s family with a $500,000 medical bill.

GuideWell Connect is currently hiring licensed health insurance agents to assist with the upcoming Annual Election Period. We sat down with Melanie McCloud, a licensed health insurance agent from GuideWell Connect, to hear firsthand why she finds her role as a health insurance agent rewarding.

How did you become a licensed health insurance agent?

I love the health care field and wanted to become a nurse. After going to nursing school, I got a job at a hospital but had difficulty with some of the physical demands during my clinicals. I wanted to find another role in the health care field that would allow me to sit at a desk but would be just as rewarding as nursing. When I came upon a news article about GuideWell hiring licensed health insurance agents, I applied and here I am.

Why do you enjoy being a licensed health insurance agent?