Innovation impacts health care
Innovation is at the forefront of everything we do in our day-to-day lives, especially health care. OSF Innovation is a collaborative network of different disciplines that designs bold, strategic solutions to transform the future of health care. Every sector of our OSF Innovation team focuses on improving both the present and future of health care.
How might we use Innovation to transform health care practices?
OSF Innovation was launched by OSF HealthCare in 2016 to collaborate and generate ideas, problem solve and encourage adoption of health care solutions quickly. Since then, OSF Innovation has reached new heights, turning possibilities into reality.
Becky Buchen, senior vice president of OSF Innovation said, “It was never a ‘can’t.’ It was, ‘How can we?'”
Michelle Conger, president of OSF HealthCare, believes that OSF Innovation is not just about ideas, but it’s also about delivering tangible outcomes.
“OSF Innovation remains at the forefront, continuously redefining the boundaries of what’s possible in health care,” said Conger.
Mission Partners, clinicians, providers and even those seeking care can submit an idea to the OSF Innovation team. The team will then consider what the underlying issue is, in order to develop the presented idea in the best way possible.
With new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR), OSF Innovation finds the best ways to utilize these tools to solve health care problems and improve patient outcomes.
Augmented reality and virtual reality advance medical practice
Although they are different, Innovation uses both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to help drive health care developments. While AR overlays digital information onto the real world, VR isolates the user from the world and creates a visual simulation.
“We engage in breakthrough exploration and performance improvements that focus on integrating data and technology in meaningful ways, without letting it overshadow the human element of care. We aim to unite with technology to predict, prevent and personalize every moment of care,” said Conger.
The OSF Innovation team brought this mindset to life through the development of AR and VR projects designed to give medical students hands-on experience at their own pace. These tools not only enhance learning, but they significantly reduce the time required to prepare lectures and decrease the demand of work by faculty and clinical educators.
However, students are not the only intended audience for this technology. The Advanced Imaging and Modeling Lab at OSF Innovation developed a method to view VR images of patients’ body parts, such as hearts, to help surgeons visualize and plan their procedures. Through the use of these tools, surgeons are able to visualize and practice the surgical approach with the patient’s actual organ in 3D. This program increases surgical success rates and builds greater confidence in both providers and patients.
OSF Innovation transforms patient care
OSF Innovation not only supports providers but also enhances the patient experience. The goal is to transform health care for everyone, making it more accessible and equitable.
After being released from the hospital, it can be overwhelming and difficult to manage many pills at one time, and if not taken, a patient’s condition may worsen. To better support patients, an OSF clinical pharmacist discovered this issue and brought it to the OSF Innovation team who helped her create Pill Passport.
Pill Passport is a handheld personalized tool that contains:
- Information such as a list of medications and what they are for
- An easy-to-read chart for help loading pill boxes
- Pill space for easy identification
- An erasable pen to make changes to their medication list
Innovations such as this empower patients and boost their confidence in the care they receive. In a world of continuously evolving technology, keeping patients informed not only enhances their experience, but can also support faster recovery.
Using AI to transform health care
OSF Innovation is at the forefront of using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve health care. The team is using AI for things like:
- Managing well-being
- Offering real-time support
- Giving voice-guided medication reminders
- Offering proactive wellness check-ins
This technology supports a seamless connection to care and will continue to drive the evolution of health care toward a more personalized experience for every individual.
One example of our AI-driven technology is CliniPane. This tool allows providers to read important patient data in a timely manner, resulting in quicker, simpler and more effective patient care.
Clinicians receive many alerts that affect daily workflow; this highlights the importance of having thoughtful alert management. Clinipane solves this by filtering and highlighting the most important patient data and providing clinical decision support, allowing providers to focus on what truly matters: the patient.
The result is improved quality of care, time savings and reduced costs.
OSF Innovation is, and will continue to be, a driving force in the transformation of health care. At OSF HealthCare, our commitment to pioneering change is evident in every initiative. Through collaboration, creativity and compassion, OSF Innovation is setting a bold course toward a more personalized, efficient and empowering health care system.