What is HATCo? Here's what we know about the company buying Summa Health

Chad Murphy, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·2 min read
Summa Health is the largest employer and hospital system in Summit County.

Summa Health announced Wednesday that it is being acquired by HATCo, a new health care venture capital firm. So, what is the Healthcare Assurance Transformation Corporation?

Here’s what we know.

What is HATCo?

HATCo was spun off from General Catalyst in October 2023. The American Hospital Association calls General Catalyst a huge venture capital firm that has been concentrating on how to help hospitals and health systems transform care delivery.

What is HATCo’s goal?

In a blog post by General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja and HATCo leader Dr. Marc Harrison, they say the goal is “to create the ‘Amazon ecosystem of healthcare’ to help systems everywhere achieve the promise of health assurance: a more affordable, accessible and proactive system of care.”

The company’s core principles include improving access and outcomes, and making care more preventative and proactive; creating a longer-term investment strategy; and fostering collaboration among its 20-plus partner health networks.

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What are the takeaways from HATCo’s launch?

The American Hospital Association has three takeaways from HATCo’s launch.

First, it says HATCo will focus on platform innovation. HATCo sees the current private equity model in health care as having a maniacal focus on removing costs from the system. HATCo’s plan will involve giving health systems the chance to capitalize on new revenue streams, which should in turn enable them to invest more in technologies to service their communities.

Second, radical collaboration will be the rule. HATCo is committed to creating an open architecture platform and working closely with its health system partners by sharing best practices, new technologies and a transformation playbook.

And third, value-based care is baked into the plan. HATCo intends to work with the ecosystem to demonstrate that a model that is better for patients also can be good for business.

Who is Dr. Marc Harrison, HATCo’s leader and former Cleveland Clinic administrator?

A pediatric critical care physician, Harrison is the former president and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, headquartered in Salt Lake City. He joined the venture capital firm General Catalyst to launch and lead HATCo. Before leading Intermountain, Harrison served as CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, chief of international business development at Cleveland Clinic, and chief medical operations officer at Cleveland Clinic.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Health Assurance Transformation Corp buying Summa Health in Akron