Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka Changemakers Launch Competition to Find Business Models that Transform Health Systems
Washington, DC and Ingelheim, Germany – January 23, 2013 - Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka Changemakers are launching Transforming Health Systems: Gamechanging Business Models, an online competition to discover innovative business models that are solving critical problems in health systems around the world.
“Traditional healthcare systems in mature markets are not designed to encourage enough collaboration between key players, such as care providers, insurance companies, and government organizations,” said Jean Scheftsik de Szolnok, Vice-President Southern Europe for Boehringer Ingelheim and Making More Health Steering Committee Chair. “Often, the systems’ misaligned incentives fail to produce real value for patients and society. Innovative business models are urgently needed to solve this issue.”
Transforming Health Systems also seeks business models that confront problems in emerging markets where governments, businesses, and non-profits often lack the resources or commitment to serve communities in need.
Winners will receive awards totalling US $85,000 plus support from Boehringer Ingelheim to help advance their business models. They will be matched with Boehringer Ingelheim’s local country offices, and will be able to explore the potential for partnerships or further on-going support. All individuals, organizations, or partnerships are eligible to enter from now until April 10, 2013 at changemakers.com/healthbiz.
Transforming Health Systems was built on key insights gained from the first Making More Health competition launched by Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka Changemakers.
“The previous Making More Health competition added tremendously to Ashoka’snetwork of social entrepreneurs who are working to solve the critical problems plaguing the world’s health systems,” said Ashoka President Diana Wells. “We have found that in tackling health from a systems level, most of our social entrepreneurs are finding ways to 1) deliver unlikely allies to solve the healthcare practitioner shortage or 2) are innovating new delivery systems which can reach low income populations in both urban and rural areas. We are excited to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim once again to tap the transformative power of social entrepreneurship and to solve one of the most critical issues that is confronting society today.”
About Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 145 affiliates and more than 42,000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing, and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
Social responsibility is a core element of Boehringer Ingelheim’s culture. Involvement in social projects, caring for employees and their families, and providing equal opportunities for all employees form the foundation of its global operations. Mutual cooperation and respect, as well as environmental protection and sustainability, are intrinsic values of all of Boehringer Ingelheim’s endeavors.
About Ashoka Changemakers
Ashoka Changemakers is a community of action that connects social entrepreneurs around the globe to share ideas, inspire, and mentor each other. Through its online collaborative competitions and open-source process, Changemakers.com is one of the world’s most robust spaces for launching, discussing, and funding ideas to solve the world’s most pressing social problems. Changemakers builds on Ashoka's three-decade history and belief that we all have the ability to be a Changemaker.