About
Our motivation
Healthcare is a critically important field that deserves attention from the best minds in technology. It is a large, meaningful, resilient market; a great place in which to build a technology career. However, technology alone is not enough to change healthcare. We must pair technology expertise with deep knowledge and credibility from inside healthcare: designers and programmers require inside connections in order to know what to build and how to implement change in complex human institutions.
Why is this necessary?
Many of the people who best understand the problems in healthcare lack the knowledge and network necessary to design and build technological solutions. Likewise, very few designers and programmers have the unique medical knowledge and credibility necessary to successfully innovate in the healthcare space. This knowledge-network gap is costly: problems remain unsolved, and current solutions remain inefficient. We must empower technology innovators with the knowledge and network required to improve healthcare.
How will it work?
Beginning the evening and running all day, designers and developers will collaborate with doctors, nurses, clinic managers and other health professionals to rapidly prototype solutions that can be put to test in clinics and hospitals.
The goal is twofold:
1. In the short-term, develop working software that can immediately improve healthcare by solving known, bite-sized problems.
2. In the long-term, nurture collaborative partnerships between technology innovators and healthcare experts.
Hacking Health is based on the “hackathon” model, an event format that has proven tremendously successful in the world of software development. By emphasizing hands-on work on small projects that can be tackled in a short period of time, assumptions can be quickly tested, teams can be built, and momentum can be generated for promising ideas in healthcare.
Who benefits?
- Designers and programmers will get access to inside knowledge and connections in a large, resilient market with high barriers to entry.
- Healthcare professionals will see ideas turned into reality by working hands-on with innovators, bypassing typical consulting processes that are lengthy and expensive.
- Patients will receive better, faster treatment as our healthcare system becomes more effective and efficient.
- The Public will save money as technology is used to reduce costs and bring healthcare management into the 21st century.