For over a decade, healthcare innovation has focused on digitization, analytics, and access. However, one major barrier remains: trust. HITLAB has announced a strategic partnership with Grapevine Health to address the gap between health innovation and patient trust, understanding, and engagement.

This collaboration reflects a growing realization in healthcare: improving outcomes requires delivering information in ways that communities trust and understand. Grapevine Health has developed a nationally recognized model for culturally grounded health communication, using storytelling, digital media, and trusted local voices to reach underserved communities.

HITLAB brings the capability to translate social impact into validated evidence and scalable business models, which is increasingly demanded in the healthcare ecosystem. As the industry shifts toward value-based care, organizations must demonstrate measurable outcomes alongside mission-driven impact.

“Healthcare innovation only works when people trust it enough to use it,” said Dr. Stan Kachnowski, Chair of HITLAB. “The next phase of patient activation will be defined by solutions that combine community credibility with rigorous evidence and operational scale.”

The partnership will focus on four key areas: developing rigorous evidence, expanding sustainable revenue pathways, strengthening operational and financial models, and building investor-ready narratives grounded in validated outcomes.

For Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, Founder and CEO of Grapevine Health, the partnership marks an important step in evolving patient activation solutions. “Communities have told us what works — trusted voices, relatable communication, and cultural understanding,” Fitzpatrick said. “Now the healthcare system must begin to ready to measure that impact and scale it responsibly.”

The announcement comes as industry leaders recognize that trusted communication is critical to addressing health disparities. HITLAB and Grapevine Health aim to demonstrate that health innovation can move beyond pilot programs toward sustainable, evidence-backed models that transform how healthcare organizations engage diverse populations.

If successful, the partnership may signal a shift from designing solutions for communities to building validated systems with them, where trust becomes as measurable and scalable as technology