Researchers, innovators, journalists, collaborators and patients shared insights on topics ranging from weight loss strategies to confronting opioid addiction to fighting cancer. Panelists and audience members took on tough questions around ethics, privacy and disparities in genomic medicine. A patient shared his life-changing experience of receiving a lung transplant made possible for Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion. A preeminent expert on sleep shared evidence-based tips on how to sleep better at night. A request for important research considerations at the gender-informed medicine session yielded a wall full of audience responses. Read on to catch these moments and more, highlighted by CRN’s staff.
SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION
This session focused on The Brigham Care Redesign Incubator and the Startup Program (BCRISP), which aims to improve patient care by investing in innovative proposals from Brigham clinicians and researchers.
- Moderated by Gideon Gil, Managing Editor of STAT News, this panel joined together members of BCRISP, iHub and Herald Health, to discuss first hand experiences, of successfully growing and piloting here at the Brigham, and how they found collaboration and communication was key to navigating a large academic medical center.
- Primary care physician Karl Laskowski, MD, leads BCRISP, which invests in innovative proposals from front-line clinicians, rapidly test pilots, scales successful projects, and creates programs that ultimately deliver clinical and financial value.
- Since its launch in 2013, over 70 projects have been funded through BCRISP. It’s an atypical program among academic medical centers, but one that Brigham and Women’s is proud to offer for front-line clinicians and researchers.
- Innovations from BCRISP have reduced costs by $1.8 million per year in total medical expenses.
- Josie Elias is a program manager for Digital Health Innovation for the Brigham Digital Innovation Hub. iHub helps internal innovators further their ideas and concepts. Most importantly navigate the complexity within a large academic medical center. This creates an abundance of opportunity, both the plethora of ideas and engagement with digital health startups.
- “It has been primarily clinician and researcher driven. If there is a strong value and concrete metrics, iHub can help support a project.“ – Elias on how iHub selects the ideas and startups they chose to work with to move to the next stage.
- Herald Health co-founder Brad Diephuis, MD, went into detail explaining how this digital health company got started. Coming together originally in an iHub hackathon, iHub helped transform Herald Health from just an idea, into a product with clear value proposition to the hospital. Diephuis also talked about finding a specific use case for Herald Health through conversations with Laskowski. Overall, BCRISP’s value contribution includes coaching, funding, and visibility to leadership.
- Laskowski and Elias gave their advice for companies and startups wanting to work with AMCS: “Think about if an academic medical center is the place to start your first pilot. Have you thought about smaller, community hospitals?”, “Know your long-term strategy and have defined metrics.”
- Visit @BWHiHub for more coverage of the panel.