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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota–LifeScience Alley’s annual conference is usually the place to show off the latest gee-whiz medical device or drug therapy.
But given the fierce debate over health care reform, the organization chose to devote its two keynote-speaker slots to men well versed in a type of innovation that doesn’t get the same attention: The delivery and experience of health care.
Normally when we think about innovation, we picture products and things, rarely services or processes. But for the country that wishes to truly reform medicine, “we need new ways to deliver better health care,” said Dr. Nicholas LaRusso, medical director of the Center for Innovation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. “I firmly believe that’s the key to health care innovation in the 21st century.”
For example, LaRusso notes, Mayo is the only major academic and medical center to boast a fully integrated “design studio” to improve patient experiences. The concept fuses traditional research methods like patient interviews with design tools like modeling, prototyping and virtualization, things not necessarily associated with health care. Think Apple’s retail stores in a hospital setting.
Dr. Bill Crounse, senior director of worldwide health for Microsoft Corp., discussed how technology and innovative design could improve a trip to the doctor.
In order to eliminate mistakes and inefficiencies at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, officials employed Toyota’s production system. Cars and health care seem like strange bedfellows but there’s a method to the madness.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Patients report to one of several small check-in desks where they receive a badge assigned to a specific room. Embedded in the badge are radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which can track how long patients wait for service. Doctors, support staff and certain equipment also carry RFID tags, allowing officials to view who’s doing what and where. By looking at a computer screen, people can tell which rooms are empty, full or need to be cleaned. They can also quickly locate that pesky X-ray machine.
To boost efficiency, “flow managers” also advise doctors on what tasks to perform between seeing patients. Like cars, patients get in and get out in a timely manner.
Microsoft’s new “Health Tech Today” show spotlighted the medical center. Check it out.
