HealthTech Arkansas has hired Steffany Benton, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC as the Clinical Director for the startup accelerator program. Dr. Benton will work with HealthTech Arkansas director Jeff Stinson and Clinician-in-Residence Dr. Amy Hester to evaluate program applicants, assist founders in administering their pilot projects with Arkansas healthcare providers, and develop national relationships for potential partnerships with the program.
Dr. Benton brings her 11 years of clinical nursing experience to the program to bridge the communications between the startup healthcare companies accepted into the accelerator and the 11 healthcare providers collaborating with HealthTech Arkansas — Arkansas Heart Hospital, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Arkansas Urology, Baptist Health, CHI St. Vincent, Conway Regional, Mercy, OrthoArkansas, St. Bernards Healthcare, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and Washington Regional Medical Center.
As a doctoral-prepared Advanced Practice Registered Nurse who is licensed and board-certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Benton has a scope of practice that includes diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients across the entire life spectrum, in both acute care and clinic settings. She will use her healthcare knowledge to evaluate new healthcare technologies to make a determination as to which of those technologies have the ability to enhance quality of care, improve clinical outcomes, make providers more efficient, and generally add value to the healthcare system. For entrepreneurs, Dr. Bention will help these inventors and startup company founders understand how their technologies and innovations can benefit the healthcare provider organizations.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Benton on the HealthTech Arkansas team. Her broad clinical base of experience allows her to understand and assess virtually every new technology we see, and also communicate with founders and providers in a language they understand,” said Stinson. “She hit the ground running and is already making a major impact on our program.”
“I was drawn to the HealthTech Arkansas program from the moment I learned about,” said Benton. “The impact it’s had on healthcare entrepreneurs and Arkansas providers has been significant, with almost unlimited potential to grow and do even greater things in the future. I’m very proud to be joining this team.”
Applications for the 2020 cohort closed on June 30, 2020. HealthTech Arkansas is currently reviewing the almost 200 applications received for the 2020 accelerator program. The cohort selections will be announced in September and the program will kick off in October. The program is seeking companies in three categories: digital health and software, medical devices, and diagnostic platforms. Each company will receive $75,000 of investment capital and is guaranteed at least two pilot projects with Arkansas healthcare providers.