As hospitals wrangle with the question of how to improve consumer satisfaction as a trend in healthcare, New York Presbyterian Hospital got some ideas by hosting a weekend hackathon. The challenge? Improve the hospital’s online patient portal, myNYP, which helps patients track health records and schedule doctors’ appointments.
About 16 teams responded to the throw down. They were guided by a set of criteria such as ease of use for patients, clear design, whether it’s a new idea and the usefulness to the hospital and patients, according to its website.
The top two teams set out to solve a common challenge for anyone who has stayed in a hospital for more than a couple of days: social isolation. The team that placed first developed PresbyHangouts, a Google Hangout that would be restricted to the hospital’s network. It would allow inpatients to connect with other patients with common interests. They could play games together and communicate through instant messaging and video chat. It would also be used to deliver educational content to patients to boost health literacy.
A summary of its submission said: “By opening conversations and opportunities, our platform will change the way hospitals do patient engagement and education outreach.” The five-member team included Hannah Oppenheimer of Brooklyn; Michael Wenger of Hoboken, N.J.; Andrea Cremese of Brooklyn; and Eric Chen of Manhattan, as well as an emergency room physician from Berkeley, Dan Firepine — and walked away with $50,000.
The second-place group created an app called Intermed that allows patients to connect with other patients and “mentors” based on their interests or condition. They could also use the portal to connect with friends and family through social networks. It would also help them access tools that promote relaxation and meditation, such as calming music. Spotify, anyone? Team members Stanislav Bogdanov and John Kinney walked away with $25,000.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are under pressure to ensure they do well on the consumer satisfaction questionnaire given to patients. Nearly $1 billion in hospital payments are based, in part, on patient satisfaction. Hospitals with high scores get a bonus payment, but those with low scores lose money.
Among the judges were Cyrus Massoumi, founder and CEO of ZocDoc; Mario Schlosser, co-founder and co-CEO of Oscar; Scott Schwaitzberg, Civic Innovation, Google; Brad Weinberg, Blueprint Health co-founder; and Aurelia Boyer, the hospital’s CIO.
