Pittsburgh healthcare giant IHS is launching a new tool for how doctors handle data

Often, workers and companies can wield far more power when they form collaborative groups and strategic partnerships. 

In this month’s Power Moves, the power of collective action is on full display, driven by employers and workers alike. 

Recently, Pittsburgh saw a major victory for the higher education labor movement, while beyond just labor moves, a new health system partnership is paving the way for innovative healthcare tools. 

Read on for more on these developments, and other power moves.

Pitt grad students approve a union under USW

Late last month, graduate students from the University of Pittsburgh overwhelmingly voted in favor of unionizing. The results of the vote were 1,033-28 in favor of forming a union with representative United Steelworkers (USW). 

The group narrowly declined to unionize in 2019, but now, Pitt’s grad students are part of an ongoing trend of successful union bids in US higher education. They join university faculty who unionized in 2021, staff who unionized in September and nearly 64,000 US grad student workers who joined unions from 2021 to 2023. 

The union covers every department and school associated with the university, according to its website, including engineering, science and other innovative fields that have been slowly gaining union momentum in the region.

The student workers now prepare to bargain with the university for more transparency, pay equity and improved benefits, they said. 

In a statement released by the university shortly after the vote, Pitt’s Office of Human Resources said, “while first contract negotiations can be complex, please know that we will come to the table in good faith and be there to support all graduate students throughout and beyond the process.” 

Local healthcare system partners to launch data analytics tool 

Last week, Independence Health System (IHS) announced a joint venture with Japanese-based firm Mitsui & Co. to launch Avehealth USA, an advanced data analytics tool. 

The platform will consolidate data from electronic health records, lab results, diagnostic imaging and other data sources to provide healthcare workers with comprehensive, real-time suggestions on cost-effective care for patients. 

IHS is the fourth-largest healthcare system in the Pittsburgh region, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times, and owns Butler Health System and Excela Health. 

“The combination of Avehealth USA technology integrated with the expansive knowledge of IHS physicians and care providers enable IHS the ability to not only be able to treat each patient more effectively, while also proactively manage health across entire populations,” said Ken DeFurio, CEO of IHS. “Additionally, the automation capabilities of Avehealth USA will help alleviate administrative burdens.”

Small business dev at Pitt hires new director

With over a decade of experience in innovation and business development, Annia Aleman will now serve as the director of Pitt’s Small Business Development Center and associate director of the university’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE). 

“From working one-on-one with business owners to contributing to big-picture strategic initiatives in our region,” said Bob Stein, executive director of the IEE, in a recent statement, “Annia will bring a wealth of knowledge and unique experience to our entrepreneurial community.”  

Aleman previously worked for the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Innovation & Performance where she launched PGH Lab, a program that connects startups with city government. She also served as innovation director at Ascender, a local business incubator, where she developed and implemented educational programs to support entrepreneurs. 

Her leadership and work in the business innovation space earned her a spot on the Pittsburgh Business Times’ 30 under 30 in 2018 and its Personalities of Pittsburgh list in 2023. 

More power moves: 

• IRALOGIX, a North Shore-based retirement fintech company, announced the appointment of Tom Albergo, the former senior vice president of retirement operations for Ascensus, as the firm’s new chief operations officer. 

• Pittsburgh-based geospatial data management firm Datamark Technologies named Chris Grollnek as vice president of the company’s public safety indoor mapping business. Grollnek has 33 years of experience working in the safety sector and is the founder of the project that established a new national standard for active shooter prevention. 

• Local podcast-hosting and advertising company SoundStack appointed Rockie Thomas to the position of chief strategy officer. Thomas has worked at SoundStack since 2017 and previously served as the company’s chief revenue officer. 

• Burns White, one of Pittsburgh’s largest law firms, named Stuart O’Neal as its new CEO. O’Neal previously served as the firm’s first chief privacy officer and said he would continue the firm’s aggressive growth strategy. 

• Center of Life, a Hazelwood-based nonprofit, announced it will build a new three-story, 127,000-square-foot community center on the corner of Lytle Street and Hazelwood Avenue. The building will host educational programming, healthcare services, a fitness center, a hydroponic farm and coworking spaces. 

• Pittsburgh Regional Transit increased its hiring and training efforts this year after dealing with a chronic driver shortage. As a result, trips where riders were left stranded because no driver was available for the scheduled route have dropped to an average of 0.7%, with many days now having no missed trips. 

• The University of Pittsburgh and international company S&B USA Construction established a collaboration to train the next generation of engineers.