- A Note from Susan
- Final Week to Apply to Innovation Program
- Innovation Blender
- Thinking Differently - New Workshop Offered
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Opportunities - Connect, Educate & Fund
- Clinical Coach Spotlight - Tammy Whitney
- IP Update
- Innovation 101
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SUSAN AHERN
Vice President
of Innovation
Susan.Ahern@
mainehealth.org
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A Note from Susan
Susan Ahern - Vice President of Innovation, MaineHealth
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We are having a lot of exciting collaboration here at MaineHealth Innovation this month! Kim Harvey hosts our monthly Innovation Blender, where recently Aaron Brown, PhD of MHIR, had an interactive discussion on “Lighting Up Fat to Burn Calories”. The Blender saw a rapid collaboration and ideation around the direction of Dr. Brown’s work and brought together 45+ people from across MaineHealth and the Maine entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. Meanwhile, we’re excited to share a new Innovation service available to all care team members: the fun and engaging Thinking Differently workshop, recently launched by Elena Brondolo, provides tools and resources to foster a culture of innovation within teams. Finally, I had the opportunity to highlight MaineHealth Innovation as the Mission Moment at the MaineHealth Board of Trustees meeting. The Board was inspired, excited, and supportive. Collaboration is key to innovation. Come join us!
With kind regards,
Susan
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LAST CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
MaineHealth Innovation Fall 2022 Cohort and Innovation Fund
Applications Due October 1
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Innovation Cohort
Run by Elena Brondolo, Manager of Innovation, this program helps MaineHealth care team members advance an early innovative "back of the envelope" idea that addresses an unmet care need.
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Innovator Highlight
Will Connelly, RN, used Cohort to learn how to talk to potential users of his innovation and gain ideas and feedback on his design. The work Will completed in Cohort helped set him up for receiving Ignite Funding this past spring which he’s using to conduct further market exploration. Cohort is a great place to start if you have an early idea and aren’t sure where to begin!
Learn More
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Innovation Ignite Fund
This program provides an investment of up to $20,000 to help innovators understand their user pain points, pilot an idea, build a prototype, or test an assumption.
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Innovator Highlight
Obi Nwanna-Nzewunwa, MD, used Ignite funds to work with the USM MIST Lab, MaineHealth Innovation’s engineering partner, to build a prototype for his innovation. The MIST lab is supporting Obi in developing both the physical prototype of his device and the artificial intelligence algorithm that’s a critical component of his innovation. Obi is developing an all-in-one mobile scan-and-treat device for cervical cancer.
Learn More
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Innovation Bonfire Fund
Application Due January 2, 2023 at Noon
The MaineHealth Innovation Bonfire Fund provides an investment of up to $100,000 to support an advanced novel solution where additional external or institutional funding opportunities can be explored from collaborators. Funding may be invested in companies or soon-to-be-companies founded by MaineHealth care team members.
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Innovator Highlight
The CAPE team was awarded Bonfire funding in the inaugural Bonfire funding round last fall. The CAPE team has been using their Bonfire funds to conduct testing and design refinement needed for FDA review, a key step on their commercialization pathway.
Learn More
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Save the Date for October's Blender Event!
The Future of Flavor - Reinventing Human-Food Interactions
October 19 at 12:00-12:45 PM
Dr. Nimesha Ranasinghe, an Assistant Professor at the University of Maine and Co-founder of FlaVR Labs Inc., shares his exciting innovations in multisensory media to achieve total sensory immersion in Mixed Reality experiences. Hear how next-generation multisensory technologies will enhance the possibilities of delivering immersive experiences in the Metaverse and beyond. Nimesha will talk about his prior work on simulating taste sensations using electrical and thermal stimulation and will discuss his recent work on simulating flavors by digitally overlaying electric taste, color, and smell as stimuli lays the foundation for a new concept called 'Flavor Interfaces'. Join this interactive brainstorm as Nimesha seeks to address some of his innovation challenges!
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THINKING DIFFERENTLY WORKSHOP
We can all play a role in creating a climate that encourages curiosity and creative thinking, the development of new ideas, and the implementation of novel solutions to transform the way we deliver care!
Elena Brondolo, Manager of Innovation, as part of her doctoral studies at Northeastern University, partnered with the Provider Leadership Development Fellowship team to design a workshop that can help leaders and teams foster innovation and generate new ideas. Now, we're pleased to offer the Thinking Differently workshop to any team interested. The 90-120 minute workshop is designed to help you and your teams learn how to encourage the development and sharing of new ideas!
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What You'll Learn
- What innovation is and why it's important in healthcare.
- Our unique roles in fostering innovation.
- 3-5 creative activities that can be used to:
-Create space for idea sharing
-Spot challenge areas
-Generate new ideas
-Prioritize ideas for exploration
How You'll Learn
- Activities
- Conversation
- Brief readings and videos
Contact elena.brondolo@mainehealth.org to learn more.
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CONNECT
Events
Brewing Ideas Coffee Corner
1st Tuesdays of the month
October 4 | 8:30-9:30 am
Join Here
MaineHealth Innovation Open Office Hours
Every other Friday, 12-1 pm
Next sessions: October 7+ October 21
Register Here
MaineHealth Innovation Blender
October 19 | 12:00-12:45 pm
Register Here
Intellectual Property Information Session
October 12| 7:30-8:00am
Register Here
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EDUCATE
Learn + Discover
MaineHealth Innovation Cohort
Application deadline October 1
Apply Here
UMaine Commercialization Training Series: Idea Validation
Register Here
Maine Technical Institute Business Basics
Online class October 6
Register Here
SBDC @ CEI Start-up Checklist Webinar
Online class October 18
Register Here
Interprofessional Innovation in Education
Fall 2022
Register Here
FUND
Seed Funding
Maine Venture Fund Startup Challenge
Applications due September 30
Learn more + Register Here
MaineHealth Ignite Fund
Application deadline October 1
Apply Here
MaineHealth Bonfire Fund
Application deadline January 1
Apply Here
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Want to learn more about our programs?
Join us for MaineHealth Innovation Office Hours every other Friday from 12:00-1:00pm via Zoom. The next sessions are October 7+21.
Register here
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INNOVATION CLINICAL COACH SPOTLIGHT
By Angelina Clancy
The MaineHealth Innovation Clinical Coaches help drive the success of MaineHealth Innovation by providing clinical leadership and expertise as innovators work to solve unmet care needs.
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TAMMY WHITNEY, RN, MSN, MHA
Manager of Clinical Informatics
Stephens Memorial Hospital
"As an organization, we're fortunate to have such a large pool of experts from various backgrounds in work experiences, education, and culture. Our employees often brainstorm the most outstanding solutions to identify problems or create systems of optimization. Now, through MaineHealth Innovation, our team members have a designated place to bring their ideas forward to be discussed, encouraged, and developed. We're just beginning to scratch the surface of the countless innovative ideas that our MaineHealth members have to share, improving patients and community outcomes."
An experienced Clinical Leader, working in the hospital and ambulatory health care settings for over 27 years, Tammy moved to Maine from Louisiana in 2007, when she joined MaineHealth as an RN in the Neonatal ICU/ Continuing Care Nursery at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. During her time at MMC, she also held a position as a care manager, and more recently, as a clinical informatics specialist. She worked closely with multidisciplinary teams to provide guidance moving projects forward, led formal Epic training classes, served on numerous governance committees, and was a strong advocate for pediatric patients. In 2020, Tammy joined Stephens Memorial Hospital as the Manager of Clinical Informatics. She has been a MaineHealth Innovation Clinical Coach since 2022.
Read more about Tammy
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IP UPDATE
By Todd Keiller
MaineHealth Tech Transfer provides an invention disclosure process, intellectual property filing support, licensing negotiation, and commercialization pathways. The MaineHealth Intellectual Property Policy is a generous benefit to those MaineHealth care team members who have a patentable idea.
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- Maine Health signed a license with Teach Me Rx, a startup from Theresa Roelke, NP, Adult Nurse Practitioner, MMC and MHIR and her Pocket Nodule intellectual property. She has been making presentations at International conferences and is getting incredibly positive feedback and is beginning to take orders.
- Also, congratulations to Jim Byrne, PT, DBT, of CHANS home health on the filing of his “Home Health Care Provider Work Station” patent. Jim has been collaborating with the University of Southern Maine MIST lab to build a fully functional prototype that will be used to do customer discovery to insure that the design is satisfying an unmet need in the market.
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Play Portal - Bethany Sweet, CCLS
Congrats to Bethany Sweet, CCLS, who was featured in September's Mainebiz featuring innovative startups disrupting the healthcare industry! Her Play Portal innovation was highlighted for the creative way it makes procedures less scary to pediatric patients. Bethany took part in the Innovation Cohort to get her idea cultivated. She was then awarded funds through Innovation Ignite to conduct a pilot study. She hopes to move forward to license her idea and expand her offerings.
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Pocket Nodules - Theresa Roelke, NP
Theresa Roelke, NP, recently presented her project at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference in Vienna in August and was able to educate clinicians as well as distribute 150 Pocket Nodules to connections around the world. Theresa will continue to work with the IASLC leadership, and expects follow up meetings with providers and distributors to help get this tool into as many hands as possible around the globe. Further updates about this collaboration will be known in the new year.
Theresa is also in talks with colleagues at the VA about the possible pilot of the tool in the Northeast region.
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CONGRATULATIONS MMC NURSES!
MMC Nurses Achieve Fourth Consecutive ANCC Magnet Recognition®
MMC and its nursing team have achieved the American Nurses Credential Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition® status for a fourth consecutive time. The Magnet Recognition Program is considered the gold standard for nursing quality, recognizing health care organizations that both demonstrate nursing excellence and disseminate successful nursing practices.
MMC received three Magnet exemplars from the Magnet committee. One of these exemplars was that MMC nurses were recognized for the strength of their work with MaineHealth Innovation, creating multiple projects that have improved patient care at MMC.
Fewer than 10% of hospitals achieve Magnet Recognition. Congratulations MMC nurses!
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INNOVATION 101
By Elena Brondolo
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