Community Health Driving In-House Innovation
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCommunity Health Network in Indianapolis has launched a program designed to tap into employee-driven innovations. Community Launchpad is an accelerator that aims to commercialize home-grown health care advancements. It connects physicians and employees with research and design, intellectual property and funding experts. Vice President of Innovation Pete Turner believes the initiative can help “change the face of health care delivery.” February 3, 2015
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Community Launchpad, the innovation accelerator and division of Community Health Network’s Visionary Enterprises, Inc., has 18 unique healthcare advancements generated by employees and physicians, which have entered an incubation process that will determine if they are ready to be commercialized.
“We are fostering a culture of innovation at Community Health Network,” said Kyle Fisher, chief executive officer of Visionary Enterprises, Inc. “We have created a model that allows employees and physicians to think like entrepreneurs and they are embracing it.”
Recently, Community Launchpad conducted an innovation competition for all network employees that generated more than 800 patient-first ideas, nine of which have been added into the commercialization pipeline. The inventors will now participate in a proprietary incubation program, allowing them to explore the business value proposition of their ideas.
“Community Launchpad's goal is to make Community a better place to work and receive care, and in the process generate alternative revenue streams to reinvest in future innovations,” said Pete Turner, vice president of innovation for Community Launchpad.
“We've created a unique innovation platform that we believe can help change the face of healthcare delivery.”
Launchpad's innovation platform allows Community employees an opportunity to be connected to leading industry experts specializing in research and design, intellectual property, funding alternatives, and others, to help bring their ideas to market. Some of the innovative ideas generated internally include:
-A patent-pending hospital room device that stops patient falls in real time
-A one-of-a-kind mobile work station that provides home care nurses an uncontaminated surface to conduct medical procedures, while reducing the spread of infectious diseases and pests between homes
-A patent-protected method for administering percutaneous nerve blocks that improves patient safety and reduces health care costs for a multitude of surgeries
-A hands-free toilet sensor that automatically measures a patient’s output and charts the results wirelessly into the electronic medical record, improving a caregiver’s workflow
-A unique, patient-centered application that blocks out visible light from medical equipment and improves a patient’s quality of sleep during their hospital stay
While hundreds of other innovative ideas submitted internally may not advance into the commercialization pipeline, they will be communicated across Community Health Network to drive operational efficiencies and enhance patient experiences.
About Community Launchpad
Community Launchpad is the innovation incubator of Community Health Network. Designed as an entrepreneurial epicenter, Community Launchpad fosters a creative work environment for Community Health Network employees, as well as external collaborators such as universities, corporate America and entrepreneurs, to improve the delivery of healthcare for patients. The goal is to develop breakthrough healthcare products and services that will be utilized at Community Health Network and commercialized throughout the healthcare industry. For more information about Community Launchpad, visit eCommunity.com/Launchpad.