Amazon-Backed Healthcare Venture Gets Much-Needed Name: Haven

A new website launched to coincide with the new name outlines in broad terms some of the areas where Haven could make improvements on the current healthcare system.

The joint healthcare venture being launched by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway has been formally known as "Tcorp62108 LLC" since its founding last year, so it should come as no surprise that those watching the entity's potentially disruptive entry into the healthcare industry have been grasping for monikers that are easier to remember and more concise.

The venture has been called by the acronym "ABC" in court documents, a reference to the three companies backing it. And journalists with Politico settled on a more colorful mashup: "Berkmorgazon." Such improvised names, however, were rendered officially obsolete on Wednesday, as the organization unveiled its new identity: Haven.

The organization's new website says its name was chosen to reflect a goal of partnering with patients and clinicians alike "to make the overall system better for all."

"We want to change the way people experience health care so that it is simpler, better, and lower cost," said CEO Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, in a press release. "We'll start small, learn from the experience of patients, and continue to expand to meet their needs."

Related: Judge Allows Ex-Optum Exec to Work for Amazon Healthcare Venture

Related: Amazon-Backed Initiative Hires Chief Technology Officer, Seeks Tech Talent

Related: Who's Afraid of Amazon and Google? Not Cleveland Clinic.

The release says Haven will focus on serving the 1.2 million employees and families connected to the three founding companies then expand to serve others later on.

The new site outlines in broad terms some of the areas where Haven could make improvements on the current healthcare system. Those include issues related to patients accessing care, finding their way through the complex system, and affording their treatments and medicines.

"We are focused on leveraging the power of data and technology to drive better incentives, a better patient experience, and a better system," the website states. "Our work may take many forms, and solutions may take time to develop, but Haven is invested in making health care much better for all of us."

In addition to Gawande, there are eight members of the Haven leadership team listed on the website:

1. Liam Brenner, who was a partner at TechCXO, is head of finance.
    
2. Mary Jane Favazza, who has been chief revenue officer for Good Measures LLC, is general manager.
    
3. Michael Higgins, a former chief information security officer for NBCUniversal Media LLC, is CISO.
    
4. Serkan Kutan, who had been chief technology officer for Zocdoc and a prior principal engineer for Amazon, is CTO.
    
5. Megan McLean, who had been chief of staff at Gawande's Ariadne Labs, is chief of staff.
    
6. Dana Safran, ScD, who has been chief performance measurement and improvement officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, is head of measurement.
    
7. Jack Stoddard, a former chief operating officer and chief strategy officer for Accolade Inc., is COO.
    
8. Brook Thurston, a former vice president of communications for Steward Health Care, is head of communications.
    

The list didn't mention David Smith, a former Optum Inc. executive who's being accused of taking Optum trade secrets to the venture now named Haven. Court records indicate that Smith accepted a job in December as the venture's director of product strategy and research.