The American Medical Association now has a Silicon Valley address, just down the block from Pinterest and Zynga. It also has a new digital identity.
The staid Midwestern bastion of traditional medicine hasn’t abandoned its Chicago headquarters or its conservative style. But the AMA is attempting to move aggressively into the digital age, making a $15 million bet on a for-profit company called Health2047, officials announced during the firm’s formal launch at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Monday.
Health2047 is set in San Francisco’s SoMo district, an artsy neighborhood dotted with talent-rich Internet companies. The firm reflects the AMA’s desire to take an active role in reshaping a health care system buffeted by converging market forces, such as the push to exploit new technology, drive down costs, improve quality, promote transparency and heighten accountability for the outcomes of care…