CHIME and ScaleHealth Announce Joint Venture to Expand Healthcare's Innovation Ecosystem

ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME, creates new pathways connecting healthcare leaders, innovators, technology partners, and investors to accelerate the future of digital health.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) today announced a strategic joint venture with ScaleHealth, Inc. to create ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME, LLC, a new innovation ecosystem designed to connect healthcare's most pressing challenges with the innovators, leaders, organizations, and partners capable of solving them. By combining CHIME's trusted digital health community with ScaleHealth's expansive innovation ecosystem, the venture creates a unique environment where healthcare organizations, entrepreneurs, established technology companies, and investors can discover, connect, validate, and advance the ideas shaping the future of healthcare.

For 35 years, CHIME has evolved alongside the digital health leaders it serves. What began as a community centered on healthcare CIOs has grown into a global network of digital health leaders supported through education, events, research, policy initiatives, media platforms, executive collaboration, and professional communities. The creation of ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME represents the next chapter in that evolution, expanding CHIME's ecosystem to include the innovators, entrepreneurs, and emerging technology companies helping define what comes next in healthcare.

As healthcare organizations face increasing pressure to improve outcomes, strengthen operations, address workforce challenges, improve cybersecurity, and realize the promise of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, the need for stronger connections across the innovation ecosystem has never been greater. ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME was created to help build those connections.

"CHIME has spent 35 years bringing together the leaders responsible for solving healthcare's most important technology and transformation challenges," said Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME. "As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, we have an opportunity to expand that trusted community even further. ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME, extends our ecosystem to include entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and emerging technology companies so that healthcare leaders can engage earlier, collaborate more effectively, and help shape the innovations that will define the future of healthcare."

The opportunity emerged through CHIME's growing innovation programming, particularly its Innovation Summit series, where healthcare leaders and technology companies increasingly expressed a desire to engage more directly with innovators and entrepreneurial organizations. At the same time, startups and growth-stage companies were seeking trusted pathways into healthcare and stronger connections to leaders who understand the industry's real-world operational challenges.

"Healthcare has no shortage of innovation. The challenge is creating trusted pathways that connect innovators with the healthcare leaders who understand the industry's most urgent problems," said Taylor McPartland, CEO of ScaleHealth and leader of the new venture. "By combining ScaleHealth's innovation ecosystem with CHIME's trusted community of digital health leaders, we're creating an environment where meaningful connections can lead to validation, partnership, and real-world impact. This is about bringing together everyone who has a role to play in the future of healthcare innovation and helping them move great ideas forward."

Unlike traditional accelerators, startup showcases, or innovation marketplaces, ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME is designed as a trusted innovation ecosystem. Healthcare organizations bring forward meaningful challenges. Innovators and startups contribute cutting-edge ideas and technologies. Established technology organizations bring expertise, infrastructure, and scale. Investors provide capital and growth pathways. Together, these stakeholders create an environment where innovation can move from discovery and connection to validation, partnership, and measurable impact.

"Throughout its history, CHIME has grown by bringing the right people together around the challenges that matter most," said Tressa Springmann, Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer at LifeBridge Health and Chair of the CHIME Foundation Board of Directors. "Today, innovation is essential to every aspect of healthcare transformation. ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME extends that trusted community into a broader innovation ecosystem, creating new opportunities for healthcare leaders, entrepreneurs, technology partners, and investors to collaborate, learn from one another, and accelerate meaningful progress across healthcare."

The venture reflects CHIME's belief that the next era of digital health will be co-created by healthcare leaders, technology partners, entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators working together to solve the challenges that matter most. By creating a trusted environment for discovery, collaboration, validation, and advancement, ScaleHealth, powered by CHIME aims to become the connective layer between healthcare's needs and the innovation being built to address them.

Read the full release here.

About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is the leading professional organization for digital health executives and leaders. CHIME provides a trusted, collaborative environment where members and partners connect, share best practices, advance professional development, and advocate for the effective use of information and technology to improve health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

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Calli Dretke
Executive Vice President & Chief Digital and Marketing Officer
CHIME                                                                                                           
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SOURCE College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)