Here are the finalists for Box and Dignity Health’s medical app challenge

Cloud storage company Box is taking seriously its commitment to market its technology to health care professionals.

The Silicon Valley-based company recently brought on its health care advisor, Missy Krasner, full time. Krasner, a former health-focused executive in residence at Morgenthaler Ventures (recently renamed the Canvas Venture Fund) and a member of the Google Health team, has taken the lead on Box’s health care vertical offering.

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Like many others in the industry, Krasner — and now Box — are focused on inspiring patient engagement. How do we help patients find applications that will keep them engaged about their health between doctor visits? And how can we avoid saddling them with unnecessary paperwork?

At the Health 2.0 conference in October of 2013, Box announced a new application challenge in partnership with Dignity Health, the fifth largest hospital system in the US. Box asked app developers to create new ways for patients to engage with educational content related to their diagnosis, disease, or surgical procedures.

The winning team will receive $100,000 in a convertible note, a month of office space, and mentorship from venture firm The Social+Capital Partnership. They will also receive marketing help from Box and an opportunity to present their technology to Dignity Health, a potential customer.

“From this App Challenge, we hope to gain insight into the patient education space. The segment of patient engagement is broad, but those who are focused exclusively on patient education have historically had a hard time innovating,” Krasner explained by email. “They are traditionally just content providers [but] the industry is just now starting to think about how to leverage cloud and mobile to launch new educational delivery platforms.”

Today, Krasner and the Box health team announced the finalists from more than 150 applicants. Conversa Health, which helps physicians gather feedback on patients’ programs and outcomes through digital checkups, received an honorable mention. Their final picks are:

• WelVU (Portland, OR). A cloud-based patient engagement service that gives healthcare providers digital tools to create personalized educational content (illustrations, videos, and so on) to improve outcomes and reduce costs.
• Wellbe (Madison, WI). Hospitals can use Wellbe’s Guided CarePaths to improve the experience and efficiency of helping patients succeed with their medical treatments and surgeries.
• CirrusHealth (New York, NY). A next-generation, patient-centered transition-of-care-platform developed by the neurosurgical team at Lenox Hill Hospital, part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. The first product is a virtual office visit and patient discharge solution.
• GenieMD (Pleasanton, CA). A personal health management application that helps people tracks vitals, store medical records and other health data, manage medications, and remotely monitor the health of a loved one. Blue Button Plus integration allows users to easily collect their medical records from multiple providers.
• Lyfechannel (San Carlos, CA). Mobile programs for chronic patient care that translate a physician’s instructions into patient action. This helps patients build better lifetime habits for diet, activity, and drug adherence.

The winner will be determined in April by a group of experts, including Box chief executive Aaron Levie, and Aneesh Chopra, the former U.S. chief technology officer.