From rural Idaho to clinics in Cameroon, these 10 trailblazers are proving that tech can be a powerful force for closing—not widening—the health equity gap.
Today, HLTH Foundation is proud to unveil 10 finalists for the third annual Techquity for Health Awards—a global competition that celebrates the innovators, organizations, and bold ideas making digital health accessible to all.
Why Techquity Matters Now More Than Ever
Techquity is the intentional design, development, and distribution of technology to improve access and outcomes for underserved patients. It’s an approach to innovation that can help solve the global digital divide and contribute to more effective, efficient healthcare.
Guided by a cross-sector advisory committee, HLTH Foundation is building a practice of techquity to help healthtech and data innovators create digital tools and programs that foster health equity and make better solutions available to clinicians, patients, employers, and insurers.
The Techquity for Health Awards spotlight the organizations leading this work—giving visibility to proven approaches, measurable outcomes, and the people turning techquity-centered innovation into reality.
Meet the 2026 Techquity Awards Finalists
Attune Media Labs, PBC
Attune Media Lab is addressing Cameroon’s 66.3% clinician burnout rate through a voice-based, culturally adapted AI emotional support companion available 24/7 in English and French. Attune’s MiM platform is designed to reduce the stigma clinicians face with regard to behavioral health needs, and provides health workers with rapid access to care. In addition to promoting direct, on-the-ground care, the project will share anonymized workforce wellbeing data to the Ministry of Public Health to inform system-level improvements.
Cara AI
Cara offers an AI-driven benefit navigation platform that helps Medicaid and Medicare Advantage members—especially low-income, older adults, and limited-English-proficiency populations—activate underutilized covered benefits. Through multimodal engagement (phone, SMS, video), Cara guides members through a 10-minute assessment and automatically connects them to transportation, meals, home modifications, and in-home support in real time, resulting in a 23% reduction in fall-related readmissions and a 40% decrease in caregiver burden.
Oatmeal Health
Oatmeal Health is a tech-enabled clinical platform for early lung cancer detection. They combine AI patient identification in primary care, nurse-led screening and navigation, and a reimbursable AI malignancy risk platform used by radiologists during lung cancer screening. Their solution improves diagnostic accuracy, integrates directly into existing workflows, and enables new CPT reimbursed revenue for health systems and imaging centers.
Pacify
Pacify’s tech-enabled maternal health support platform is providing Medicaid members in Virginia—especially in rural maternal care deserts—with 24/7 access to board-certified lactation consultants and culturally matched doula care. The program, enabled by Pacify’s multilingual mobile app and in-person support, achieved a 13% reduction in member ED visits, a 21% reduction in infant ED visits, 8% lower NICU admission rates, and a member satisfaction rating of 4.9 (out of 5).
Pear Suite
Pear Suite combines its AI-powered care navigation platform and managed services infrastructure to enable Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) to participate fully in the healthcare ecosystem.
Pear Suite has onboarded 600+ community-based providers serving Medi-Cal members across 80 organizations, achieving 71% member engagement retention, 80% closure of identified social needs goals, and 98% CBO retention rate by offering features such as a tech platform, credentialing, contracting, and claims management support.
PicassoMD, Inc.
PicassoMD’s Curbside Consult platform connects primary care providers to board-certified specialists across 30+ disciplines in under 45 seconds via secure messaging—while patients are still in the exam room. In areas with significant specialist scarcity, the platform achieved median connection times of 27 seconds, avoided 77 unnecessary specialist referrals and 7 unnecessary ER visits in just 2.5 months, and eliminated geographic disparities in specialist wait times between affluent and underserved populations.
Revive Therapeutic Services
Revive Therapeutic Services combines its tech-enabled therapeutic care model with equity-focused service design to eliminate behavioral health access barriers for underserved populations. By offering mobile-friendly, bilingual teletherapy alongside digital intake and data-driven equity monitoring, Revive reduced average wait times from 6-8 weeks to 7 days, reached 42% more Medicaid patients, and achieved 78% therapy adherence rates (compared to 55% typical in underserved populations). The platform has delivered a 72% retention rate, with dropout rates falling from 38% to 18% along with a 22% reduction in ER visits–and 71% of patients reporting greater trust in providers.
St. Luke’s Health System
Virtual care hubs in community spaces—libraries, schools, and community centers—are the focus of a winning project from St. Lukes. Partnerships with fire stations and EMS for in-home telehealth visits round out this deeply local approach to increasing healthcare access in Idaho’s rural, underserved counties. The On-Demand Virtual Care service has grown 50-100% year-over-year while maintaining a 94% Net Promoter Score, creating 10 new care access points for less than $50K investment, and preventing over 50% of ED transports through the EMS telehealth alternative.
Televeda
The Hero’s Story Project—a culturally tailored suicide prevention program for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) veterans in rural areas combining narrative therapy-based peer support, Virtual Talking Circles app, satellite internet kits for tribal connectivity, and traditional healing ceremonies. In a 6-month Navajo Nation pilot, 285 veterans engaged with 100% reporting feeling happier and more connected, 96% experiencing greater relaxation, and 95% feeling less lonely—addressing the highest suicide rates among any veteran population while building trust with communities historically underserved by government healthcare.
WellLink
The Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Innovation Hub, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), integrates clinical and social data across Northeast Ohio to address root causes of poor health. With an 80+ member advisory council representing nonprofits, government, and healthcare, the Hub develops community-led solutions ranging from adolescent suicide prevention to expanding behavioral health access in rural and underserved areas—resulting in social workers now responding to 311 behavioral health calls and suicide prevention education in community schools.
Stay tuned for the Winners Announcement in February…
At ViVE 2026 (February 22-25, 2026, Los Angeles Convention Center) you can expect a powerful panel discussion where three winners will share the stories behind their work—the challenges, breakthroughs, and lessons learned on the frontlines of techquity. All finalists will attend a private VIP reception where the winners will be recognized.
To learn more and get involved:
New to techquity? Download our comprehensive user guide to understand the framework and principles that drive equity-centered innovation in digital health.
Visit the HLTH Foundation Techquity Database to explore detailed case studies from prior years.
Want to go deeper? Learn about the Techquity Initiative, the Coalition Advisory Committee, and how you can join the movement at hlthfoundation.org/techquity.
Subscribe to stay up-to-date on our news and announcements: https://hlthfoundation.org/subscribe/
Lastly, Thank You to the Reviewers Behind this Year’s Finalist Selection:
- Alexis Anderson, MPH
- Carly Newhouse
- Cassie Dawalt
- Daniel Carnegie, MD, MPH, MBA
- Daniel Turner-Lloveras, MD
- Elizabeth Boudreau, MSHI
- Grace Cordovano, PhD, BCPA
- Jay Calhoun, MBA
- JeShaune Jackson, MBA
- Kate Lewis
- Larissa D’Andrea, MSLS
- Michael Penn, MD, PhD
- NanaEfua Afoh-Manin, MD, MPH, MPA
- Pooja Mittal, MD
- Ricky Y. Choi, MD, MPH
- Stefano Leitner, MD, MPH
- Tanisha Hill, PhD
