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Medication Safety Innovation Challenge

Screening

October 1
  Challenge
opens 
October 31
  Submission
deadline 
November 12
  Feedback to
all applicants 
Nov. 15 - Dec. 17
  Coaching for
semi-finalists 
January 14
  Level Up pitch event

Medication Safety Innovation Challenge

Do you have an idea for transformative innovation that can improve patient safety by decreasing medication errors? 


Sponsored By

DETAILS


Timeline
  • October 1 - Challenge opens
  • October 31 - Submission deadline
  • November 12 - Feedback to all applicants
  • Nov. 15-Dec. 17 - Coaching and Pitch Camps for semi-finalists
  • January 14, 2022 - HSC Next Level Up pitch event


Who can participate?

This Innovation Challenge is an internal HSC challenge open to all faculty, staff and students at The UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Teams comprised of up to four members are welcome and encouraged, but not required. 

Process
  • Innovators submit ideas by answering questions at HSCNext.com.
  • The HSC Next team provides feedback to all applicants.
  • Semi-finalists are selected to compete in a pitch competition for prizes, guidance and potential funding to help take the next step with their ideas.
  • Finalists move forward with HSC support and a designated mentor.


Register

Claim your HSC Next profile by clicking the SIGN UP button in the top right corner of this web page. HSC faculty, staff and students can sign-up with their HSC single sign-on (SSO) credentials. If you are a returning user to the HSC Next platform, simply log-in with SSO by clicking on the LOGIN button.



Review Resources

Explore the HSC Next platform to discover resources that can help you think about or develop your idea. You can find Tools to help you develop your idea,   Stories that will inspire you to think like an entrepreneur, Connectors that offer innovation programming and even Events that will challenge you to grow as an innovator. Check back often as the resources are frequently updated.



Submit Your Idea

Begin telling us about your idea! Click the START button on this page and answer a few questions. You can save your work and return to it later. After logging back in, you will find your draft submission on your profile page. Once you’ve finished, click SUBMIT to enter your idea in the Challenge.


What's YOUR solution?


Since the start of the 21st century, important progress has been made in improving patient safety. Due to controls and procedures that define care for hospitalized patients, improvements are most visible for inpatient environments.  

However, outside of the inpatient setting, care is provided by a diverse set of providers, assorted processes and a variety of locations like, primary care offices, pharmacies, urgent care centers and homes, to name a few. Significant opportunities exist for improving patient safety in these environments.

Medication safety is one such area that remains ripe for innovation in ambulatory settings. 



Examples of unmet needs in medication safety include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Medication reconciliation—the  process of reviewing all medication a patient is taking—is difficult for many organizations and individuals outside of the hospital. Medication reconciliation is imperative for assessing the risk of drug interactions and avoiding duplications, omissions, dosing errors, etc. However, medication reconciliation can be time consuming and confusing for patients, caregivers, pharmacists and primary care providers. Current approaches include the use of paper lists, mobile apps, patient portals and electronic health record systems. Improved tools are needed for patients, caregivers and providers to make medication reconciliation easier, more efficient and accurate in ambulatory settings. 
  • Reporting of patient safety events is almost always made by health care providers. Consequently, a need exists to equip patients and caregivers to partner with providers in the reporting of safety incidents, especially those related to the use of medications. Technologies that aid the reporting of possible medication errors would enhance ambulatory safety monitoring. 
  • Communication about the proper use of medication remains a challenge. A study at one pediatric clinic found that 1 out of 5 patients were not using medications as instructed at discharge from the hospital. Communication errors are further compounded when patients are not native English speakers. Despite recent advances, opportunities exist for technologies to enhance comprehension by patients about the safe use of prescribed medications.
  • The increasing use of complementary and alternative medicines, nutritional supplements and unconventional diet regimens is leading to a higher incidence of complex interactions with prescribed medications.  Such interactions can adversely affect absorption and metabolism of medications and generate unsafe and poorly understood side effects.
So, take the challenge! Do you have an idea for a transformative innovation to better equip providers, patients and caregivers to reduce medication errors?


References

David C. Classen, MD, MS. Improving Ambulatory Safety: When Will the Time come? Editorial, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 2021.

Amanda S. Mixon, MD, MS, MSPH, FHM; Sunil Kripalini, MD, MSc, SFHM. The Challenges of Medication Reconciliation for the Medical Home. Editorial, The Joint commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 2019.

U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Working to Reduce Medication Errors,  2019.


How to submit

Start your submission by clicking on the START button on this page and answering a few questions.

Contact

If you have questions about this Challenge, completing your submission or using this site, please reach out to hello@hscnext.com. 

Terms & Conditions

Values:

This Innovation Challenge will be conducted in accordance with HSC core values:

  • Serve others first – encourage growth, well-being and success of each other and people we serve
  • Integrity – uphold the highest ethical standards
  • Respect – treat everyone with dignity and compassion
  • Collaboration – work together to achieve shared goals
  • Be Visionary – create innovative solutions in the pursuit of excellence
General:

The UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth (“HSC”) is sponsoring the Health Science EdTech Innovation Challenge (“Challenge”) to stimulate ideas for innovation in the virtual education experience for postgraduate students at a health science center. Ideas with the most promising potential for innovation will advance to a competition where innovators with the top ideas will be awarded funding, resources and mentors to help them take the Best Next Step with their ideas. For background information, submission deadlines and other Challenge details, see the specific challenge website  here.

The Challenge will be managed by the HSC Next team using the online platform at https://www.hscnext.com (“Platform”). The Challenge, and your participation in it, is governed by these Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions (“Terms”). Participants agree to be bound by these Terms upon submitting a Challenge entry through the Platform. HSC may revise these Terms at any time during the course of the Challenge to provide additional information or to improve the quality of the Challenge. Unanticipated issues that arise may require modifications to these Terms. HSC reserves the right to revise these Terms as it, in its sole discretion, deems necessary. All participants will be notified of revisions in a timely manner.

Click here to download the full Terms and Conditions

Please send any questions about this challenge and/or feedback regarding these Terms to hello@hscnext.com.

Common Qs about this Challenge...

Who is this for?

This Challenge is open to all HSC faculty, staff and students. 


Can I submit more than one idea?

Absolutely! We encourage you to submit your best idea(s) to any open Challenge. 


How do I get started?
Access the resources tab for Tools and Stories that have been curated to inform and inspire innovation. Click the "Start" button on this page any time to submit your idea. 

Can I work with a team?

Of course! At this time, the platform will only allow one member to view and edit entries, but you are welcome to work in teams of up to four. 


What is the time commitment?

If your idea is chosen to participate in the competition, you will receive mentoring and attend two Pitch Camp workshops to help you prepare. We will detail expectations between participants and HSC Next before anyone makes a commitment. Submitting your idea just takes a few minutes, so let's get started!


Who will be judging the entries?

Each Challenge will be judged by a diverse panel of innovation experts from multiple industries, both from the HSC Next team and from partner organizations. 


When will I hear back?

You will receive a confirmation email when your submission is received. All participants will receive feedback from the HSC Next by November 12, 2021.