Hackathon 2020 Drives Systemic Innovation At MEDHOST

MEDHOST completed its second annual Hackathon in November 2020.

Fifteen cross-functional teams competed by taking a product or service idea from conception to prototype in three days. This year’s theme was again about creating customer value through existing product enhancements and new product development. Other Hackathon concepts focused on improving internal processes and/or efficiencies which ultimately benefit our customers as these improvements enable us to continually serve our customers in a more efficient way and enhance the quality of our services.

As in Hackathon 2019, Hackathon 2020 teams were encouraged to be cross-functional with over 50 percent of participants from areas outside product development. Increased participation by customer-facing associates not only enhanced the Hackathon results, but also provided other associates better insight into customer needs.

The winning team automated the creation and secure transmission of electronic billing files to eliminate multiple manual steps and the use of a third-party software such as IBM i Access Client Solutions. This solution engaged multiple customers eager to beta the solution. Additionally, the Hackathon 2020 saw an array of new product ideas built on a mobile and voice-based platform to enhance patient care efficiency. Noteworthy projects in the new product theme included building a lightweight mobile app to display patient care critical information, creating an AI-powered chatbot, designing a mobile app for clinicians to collect and check-in laboratory specimens, and creating an integrated scanning solution focused on consolidating existing scanning products. Multiple customer-benefiting ideas from Hackathon 2020 are moving to the development phase.

Hackathon 2020 was a success on multiple levels. It further unified us as a customer-centric organization, promoted cross-pollination of ideas and talent, and strengthened our product vision. We envision refining and adapting many of these ideas into future MEDHOST products and thus continue our journey to deliver quality products to support our customers’ ultimate goal — providing excellent care to their patients.

Want to learn more about Hackathon 2019 highlights, read MEDHOST blog “Promoting a Culture of Innovation at MEDHOST”.