Healthcare - Enterprise Innovation Institute

Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine Announce Collaborative Effort for Health Technology Startup Development

Initiative aims to expand Morehouse School of Medicine’s research commercialization efforts, and support focus on the needs of underserved minority and rural populations.

ATLANTA (July 9, 2019) — The Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) today announced the launch of a new initiative that will support MSM’s commercialization efforts to create health technology (HealthTech) startups.

The effort brings the Institute’s globally recognized technology incubator — the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) — to the MSM campus, ranked the No. 1 medical school in the nation in fulfilling its social mission and the top ranking historically black college or university for producing patents (2009-2019).

“We’re excited to forge this effort between our two schools that will help translate ideas that may start in the lab to real-world solutions for minority and rural populations in healthcare,” said James W. Lillard, Ph.D., MSM’s associate dean for research and director of the Office of Translational Technologies. “This initiative leverages the research rigor and innovations developing at Morehouse School of Medicine with Georgia Tech’s proven ATDC model of helping technology entrepreneurs create viable, scalable companies.”

The collaboration with MSM, the eighth for ATDC through its ATDC @program, continues the incubator’s mission of working with technology startups across Georgia. The catalyst for this initiative was an i6 Challenge grant the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded to Georgia Tech in 2015.

That $500,000 grant, secured by Tech’s Innovation Ecosystems group, supported wide-ranging innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the state. In Atlanta, it called for the Institute to collaborate with Georgia State and Clark Atlanta universities, Morehouse College, the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College to develop entrepreneurship programs that supported their unique visions.

The ATDC @ MSM will provide the medical school with a full suite of services and educational programming to support entrepreneurship in the HealthTech arena among faculty, staff, and students on the MSM campus. The core goal is to help entrepreneurs gain insight into successful HealthTech commercialization, through the program, which includes curriculum, connections, and coaching.

ATDC was founded in 1980 to help technology entrepreneurs learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of successful businesses in the state. Since its founding, ATDC has developed a global reputation for fostering technological entrepreneurship, with Forbes naming ATDC to its list of “Incubators Changing the World” in 2010 and 2013, alongside Y Combinator and the Palo Alto Research Center.

Kirk Barnes, ATDC’s HealthTech catalyst, said the effort is a great example of how two world-class institutions can collaborate to create a medically-oriented innovation ecosystem. It also brings focus to the needs of minority and rural populations that are traditionally underserved from a medical standpoint, just as state leaders in Georgia are looking at the issue more closely.

“This is a great collaborative undertaking that takes our “Startup Success, Engineered” model into the clinical setting and gives particular focus on black entrepreneurs who are an underrepresented community in tech,” Barnes said.

“This will help expand the pace and flow of innovation and commercialization of research coming out of the Morehouse School of Medicine as well as give them access to the broader resources at Georgia Tech and the ATDC model will formalize and expedite how that happens.”

About the Advanced Technology Development Center

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising more than $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

About Morehouse School of Medicine

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), located in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1975 as a two-year Medical Education Program at Morehouse College with clinical training affiliations with several established medical schools for awarding the M.D. degree. In 1981, MSM became an independently chartered institution and the first medical school established at a Historically Black College and University in the 20th century. MSM is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians and was recently recognized as the top institution among U.S. medical schools for our social mission. Our faculty and alumni are noted in their fields for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, and are known in the community for exceptional, culturally appropriate patient care.

Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctorate and master’s degrees. To learn more, visit msm.edu.

About the Office of Translational Technologies

The Office of Translational Technologiesat MSM was established in 2011 to leverage MSM’s intellectual property, research and infrastructure to develop and commercialize product and services that advance health equity. To learn more, visit msm.edu/Research/translational-technologies.

Georgia Tech’s ATDC hosts federal health technology summit, mental health panel discussion

Kirk Barnes, health technology catalyst at Georgia Tech's ATDC, welcomes a HealthTech entrepreneurs to the Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit co-hosted by NASCO Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul) — Kirk Barnes, health technology catalyst at Georgia Tech’s ATDC, welcomes a HealthTech entrepreneurs to the Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit co-hosted by NASCO Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

A core tenet of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) mission is the use of innovation and ideation not only to drive economic development in Georgia and beyond, but to improve and advance the human condition.

On Sept. 13, 2018, EI2’s ATDC incubator — led by its health technology catalyst, Kirk L. Barnes, hosted two important events, the first with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to connect federal health agencies with HealthTech startups’ solutions and technologies.

HHS, which runs the largest balance sheet of any organization in the world at nearly $1.3 trillion a year, wants to better connect with HealthTech entrepreneurs and the solutions they have for the healthcare sector and related fields. The ATDC Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit was co-hosted by NASCO, a leading provider of information technology products and services designed help U.S. healthcare payers, and sponsor of the ATDC HealthTech Program.

“The main goal of what we’re doing here today is total a very inward facing organization and turn it outward, and give everybody an opportunity to interact with us,” said Ed Simcox, HHS’ chief technology officer.

The second event was ATDC’s Silence The Shame for mental health awareness, which was sponsored by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises and coincided with September being designated as National Suicide Awareness Prevention Month. That effort, which was an interactive panel discussion with hip-hop music industry executive Shanti Das and other leading experts in mental health and wellness, sought to highlight the role technology can play in mental health and in reducing the stigma of discussing depression and suicide as part of Das’ Silence The Shame initiative.

Ed Simcox, chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, addresses attendees of the Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit co-hosted by ATDC and NASCO Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

From left, Dr. Richard Wild, chief medical officer for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Atlanta Region, Chaouki T. Abdallah, Georgia Tech's executive vice president for research, and Kirk Barnes, health technology catalyst at ATDC. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul) — From left: Dr. Richard Wild, chief medical officer for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Atlanta Region; Chaouki T. Abdallah, Georgia Tech’s executive vice president for research, and Kirk Barnes, ATDC’s health technology startup catalyst at the Federal Healthcare Innovation Summit co-hosted by ATDC and NASCO Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

Panelists address issues related to mental health and how to move away from the stigma of discussing mental health, depression and warning signs of suicide at the ATDC and Cox Enterprises-sponsored Silence The Shame Panel Sept. 12, 2018. (Photo: Ben Andrews)

Commerce Department’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship director visits GCMI

Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, learns about the 3D printing capabilities during a recent tour of the Global Center for Medical Innovation, a Georgia Tech affiliate. She holds a skull made via 3D printing at the facility.. — Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, learns about the 3D printing capabilities at the Global Center for Medical Innovation during a recent tour of the Georgia Tech affiliate. She holds a skull made at the facility via 3D printing.

By Péralte C. Paul

The Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) recently hosted U.S. Department of Commerce officials, who visited the facility for a better understanding of its best practices in iatric commercialization.

GCMI, which launched in 2012, is the Southeast’s first comprehensive medical device innovation center. An affiliate of Georgia Tech, GCMI’s core mission is to accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation medical devices and technology.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration arm awarded a $1 million i6 Challenge grant to GCMI in 2010 toward its launch.

“I want to come see what it is the federal government is investing in and how it’s impacting people,” said Julie Lenzer Kirk, director of the Commerce Department’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “Being one of our original i6 winners, GCMI also offers some insight as we continue to evolve the program.”

Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson (left) shares his insights on medical device innovation with Julie Lenzer Kirk (center), the director of U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and GCMI Executive Director Tiffany Wilson Karp (right). GCMI is a Georgia Tech affiliate. — Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson (left) shares his insights on medical device innovation with Julie Lenzer Kirk (center), the director of U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and GCMI Executive Director Tiffany Wilson Karp (right). GCMI is a Georgia Tech affiliate.

While touring the facility with Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson and GCMI Executive Director Tiffany Wilson Karp, Kirk saw its design, engineering, and prototyping capabilities as well as its cleanroom space. She also learned about GCMI’s relationships with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and West Tennessee Healthcare, as well as a number of medical device-related organizations.

“We have been working to bring together the rich medical device ecosystem in the Southeast around our prototyping expertise and infrastructure to help medtech startups accelerate commercialization,” Karp said. “Our mission is to help these early-stage companies bring those solutions to market and make a difference in the quality of patients’ lives.”

GCMI’s focus on that core mission and doing so from an entrepreneurial viewpoint is impressive, Kirk said, adding that she will be looking at its best practices and lessons learned in formulating criteria for future i6 Challenges.

“It’s just been really great to see the impact that they’re having at the university, in the technology community, and ultimately right to the patient — and that’s why we do what we do,” Kirk said following the Jan. 15 tour. “It is a place for entrepreneurs and innovation, and that’s part of the message: that it takes an entrepreneurial mindset to get this kind of thing done.”

Open Health Tools & Dr. Robert Kolodner Join Georgia Tech in New Initiative to Accelerate Advances in Health Information Technology

An internationally-known health information technology (IT) leader and a top nonprofit health IT organization are collaborating with the Georgia Institute of Technology on a new public-private initiative designed to accelerate the use of health IT to benefit patients and providers – as well as improve personal and population health.

Open Health Tools, Inc., is a multi-stakeholder open source community in which member organizations collaborate to create the shared platforms and tools necessary to build affordable and easy-to-use interoperable health IT solutions. Also joining the effort as its senior strategic advisor is Robert M. Kolodner, MD, who is chief health informatics officer for Open Health Tools and former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“The over-arching mission of this initiative is to provide a virtual environment in which diverse stakeholders work together to unleash the innovations necessary to bring the industry to its future state,” said Steve Rushing, director of Health@EI2, which is part of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.

The new initiative will include participants from government, health care providers and provider organizations, patient and personal health advocacy organizations, open source and commercial vendors, public health organizations, academic and non-academic researchers, start-up companies and entrepreneurs.

“We want to accelerate the health IT advances necessary to deliver high quality, person-centered health and care and eliminate health disparities,” said Kolodner. “Our initiative will gather a rich set of open source and commercial resources that enable public, private, and non-profit entities to begin collaborative projects quickly and with minimal start-up costs. By using proven processes that build trust and increase project success rates, the community will develop shared infrastructures and tools that deliver value and choice for users and create new business opportunities for vendors.”

Kolodner will serve in a planning and participant coordination role, making use of his 30-plus years of experience in health information technology.

“Rob is not only nationally recognized as a health information technology expert, but also a deeply experienced collaborator and consensus builder among diverse groups,” said Rushing. “He’ll play a critical role in creating opportunities for widespread health IT innovation within and across organizations. Rob possesses a strategic view of policy implications on the national health care picture that cannot be obtained from any other source.”

As former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kolodner took a lead role in activities to implement a nationwide health IT infrastructure and stimulate health IT use in the public and private sectors. Prior to his role at HHS, Kolodner had been the senior clinical health informatics leader at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) where he provided vision, direction, and leadership for VA’s award-winning health IT activities, including its internationally acclaimed VistA Electronic Health Record, a personally-controlled Personal Health Record (PHR) for veterans (My HealtheVet), and the nationwide deployment of real-time, bi-directional exchange of electronic health information between VA and the Department of Defense.

Kolodner received an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and a medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine.

About Open Health Tools: Open Health Tools is an open source community with a vision of enabling a ubiquitous ecosystem in which diverse stakeholders in health and health IT can collaborate to build interoperable systems that enable patients and their care providers to have access to vital and reliable medical information at the time and place it is needed. Open Health Tools is working to generate a vibrant active ecosystem involving software product and service companies, medical equipment companies, health care providers, insurance companies, government health service agencies, patient and personal health advocacy organizations and standards organizations.

About Enterprise Innovation Institute: The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute helps companies, entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the nation.

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).

EDA i6 Challenge Grant Supports Medical Device Innovation Center

The worldwide market for medical devices is expected to top $300 billion this year and to continue growing, fueled by demands from a growing population and a U.S. baby boomer generation that expects a high level of healthcare services. That’s an economic development opportunity that many states and regions would like to tap.

In Atlanta, a partnership of research and medical institutions, supported by the public-private Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), has formed the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) to do just that. With assistance from the Economic Development Administration, GCMI recently began construction of what will be the Southeast’s first comprehensive medical device innovation center. The goal of the nonprofit center is to accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation medical devices and technology.

Launched through a partnership of four leading research and healthcare organizations – the Georgia Institute of Technology, Saint Joseph’s Translational Research Institute, Piedmont Hospital and the GRA – the new center will fill a medical device commercialization gap for the region. GCMI will help new product teams shorten time to market, enhance their product development, achieve significant cost savings – and create new jobs and economic activity.

The center includes both a prototyping design and development facility – and an initiative to create new approaches for identifying, developing and moving technology from university laboratories, hospitals, companies and other organizations into the marketplace. An i6 Challenge Grant is helping GCMI bring together the key elements needed for developing medical devices: universities, research centers and clinicians; established drug and device companies; investors and early-stage companies.

The new center will be housed in a 12,000-square-foot facility being renovated in midtown Atlanta near the Georgia Tech campus. The facility, expected to open by the end of 2011, will house design, material and mechanical engineering resources, along with state-of-the-art rapid and functional prototyping equipment capable of producing a wide range of medical devices for development, pre-clinical testing and clinical studies.

As its name suggests, international partnerships will be a critical piece of GCMI’s strategy. Already, it has begun developing a medical device partnership with the National University of Ireland in Galway through Georgia Tech, which has relationships and a facility there. International university and clinical partnerships will facilitate the development and launch of groundbreaking medical devices evaluated in different regulatory environments and produced with lower development costs.

Atlanta-based companies such as CardioMEMS, MedShape Solutions and Zenda Technologies have shown that the area’s strong engineering and medical institutions can launch and build medical device companies. And a new survey of just one partner, Georgia Tech, shows more than two-dozen medical device technologies in the research and development pipeline.

GCMI will help Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast expand what is already an important industry, building on the strengths of Georgia Tech, Emory and other research organizations; the real-world medical expertise and experience of area hospitals and clinicians; and the entrepreneurial know-how of investors and early-stage companies. Access to GCMI will allow Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast to take better advantage of its resources to produce more investment and create more technology jobs for the area.

This article originally appeared in the Economic Development Administration’s electronic newsletter.

Writer: John Toon

Empowering Patients: Rome Project Joins 38 U.S. Organizations Making Commitments to Health Information Improvement

Representatives of a groundbreaking community health information demonstration project based in Rome, Ga., traveled to Washington, D.C. on September 12th to pledge their commitment to a national effort aimed at better engaging consumers in health care through the use of health information technology.

The goal for the project, which is being managed by Georgia Tech health care specialists, is to improve patient health and outcomes. The Rome consumer-mediated health information exchange (CMHIE) project aims to put personal health information into the hands of patients — beginning with those who have cancer — so they can better manage their own health.

Representing the project at the Washington ceremony were Angie McWhorter, chief information officer of the Harbin Clinic in Rome, and Alan Wills, associate director of health at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. The group was among 39 organizations participating in the Consumer Health IT Summit, which was sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Rome project will add modern communications technology to the relationship among patients, doctors and hospitals. It will provide the tools to give patients access to their health information and enable secure two-way communication between providers and patients for outcomes reporting, subsequent treatment and other information. The new CMHIE will allow individual health data to be sent to a patient’s personal health record (PHR), and patients will also be able to decide who will have access to their information.

The ONC has provided approximately $1.7 million in funding for the Rome demonstration project, which involves Floyd Medical Center, Harbin Clinic and Redmond Regional Medical Center. The project is being administered through the Georgia Department of Community Health.

“Cancer is a complex disease that involves care from multiple providers,” explained Wills. “We believe that putting the patient into the equation is extremely beneficial to addressing the challenge of coordinating cancer care.”

The first component of the Rome initiative will focus on breast cancer patients. Services for patients with other types of cancer will become available later, and the system could ultimately be made available more broadly to help all persons in the Rome community manage their health.

“The better informed that patients are about their health and the more involved they are in their care, the better the outcomes generally are,” McWhorter said. “Our goals are to help patients have better access to their personal health information and to enhance communication with health care providers by building on the technology already established in our community.”

Organizations providing health care to Rome patients who have cancer are working together to implement the new project, which could show other communities around the country how to improve community health while delivering services more effectively.

“Floyd Medical Center, Harbin Clinic and Redmond Regional Medical Center have been collaborating on information technology initiatives for many years now for the benefit of our patients in an indirect way,” noted Brian Barnette, chief information officer of Floyd Medical Center. “The three entities collaborating on extending access to personal health information directly to the patient is a natural evolution of our efforts. The healthcare industry is going through a major technological shift right now, but we can’t lose sight of the real goal. Our three organizations compete on many levels, but we all have the same goal in mind – to improve the health and care of our patients.”

By facilitating the use of technology, organizers of the project expect it to give patients a better overall experience.

“The challenge grant is just another avenue that the health care community in the Rome area has taken to improve patient care,” said Brad Treglown, director of Information technology and services at HCA Healthcare, which operates Redmond Regional Medical Center. “By facilitating the use of technology, the grant allows patients to be involved at every level of their care. It will help to improve patient outcomes as well as the entire health care experience.”

About the Enterprise Innovation Institute:

The Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute helps companies, entrepreneurs, economic developers and communities improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. It is one of the most comprehensive university-based programs of business and industry assistance, technology commercialization and economic development in the nation.

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).

Writer: John Toon

Georgia Tech and Gwinnett Tech Receive $1.65 Million Grant to Boost Job Creation

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Gwinnett Technical College, part of the Atlanta Health Information Technology (HIT) cluster, have been awarded a $1.65 million grant to enhance the state’s capabilities in this sector. The initiative is part of the federal government’s Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a tri-agency competition initiated to support the advancement of 20 high-growth, regional industry clusters. The Atlanta HIT cluster’s proposal was one of 20 selected from 125 applicants.

The collaborative program, designed to quickly create jobs to fill demand in Georgia’s expanding HIT cluster, provides a commercialization pathway for the supply-side and training for the workforce on the provider side. The initiative also engages traditionally underserved businesses throughout the state’s economically distressed areas via technical assistance resources.

“Our ultimate goal is simple — to achieve higher-quality, lower-cost and more patient-centric health care throughout Georgia,” said Steve Rushing, director of HIT initiatives at Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), who will serve as the general advisor for the integrated project plan. “Through extensive collaboration and partnerships, this initiative leverages existing resources to boost job creation through technology deployment, and thus economic development.”

The HIT proposal is funded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). The Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) will assist with financing coordination on the SBA Scope of Work.

“ADA will focus on identifying and coordinating financing sources such as small business loans and equity from angel and venture capital firms to enhance this initiative,” says Brian McGowan, president and ADA CEO. “This grant will greatly expand our region’s capacity to create jobs and establish a global competitive edge in a highly sought after innovation cluster.”

In-kind donations and support for hiring program graduates have also come from the HIT industry and information technology providers. In addition, the Georgia Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center will play a key role in identifying eligible and formerly under-served small businesses to participate in the program.

The centerpiece of the EDA funds provided by this grant will be the creation of an Interoperability Lab that will be funded for two years. A standards-based facility located at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the lab will test and evaluate cutting-edge health information technology software innovations originating from industry, researchers, faculty and students, inventors and other sources.

As part of the initiative, Gwinnett Technical College will develop a one-year certificate in health information technology. The “Feet on the Ground” program, designed for veterans and underemployed/unemployed individuals, will provide industry-designed training for employment in software development, sales and customer service, medical billing and coding, and computer networking positions within health care provider organizations.

“This grant and the resulting Feet on the Ground’ program is great news for our veterans, those unemployed and underemployed, and individuals eager to enter the rapidly growing field of health information technology,” said Gwinnett Tech President Sharon Bartels. “HIT is a growing sector where there are jobs for those with the right skills and training. The program Gwinnett Tech will develop will help fill this unmet need for a skilled workforce and connect job seekers with employers.”

The “Feet on the Ground” certification program will undergo curriculum development and preparation for the initial project year. The target for years two and three will be to graduate more than 400 certified trainees annually, approximately half of them veterans.

About the Enterprise Innovation Institute:

Georgia Tech to Offer New Professional Certificate in Lean Healthcare

To help address rising costs and improve patient care, Georgia Tech will begin offering a new professional certificate in lean healthcare this September. Medical professionals such as physicians, nurses, quality mangers, laboratory personnel and health care executives will learn lean management principles – a set of tools derived mostly from the Toyota Production System widely used in manufacturing – that helps identify and steadily eliminate waste from an organization’s operations.

Participants will work one-on-one with a lean health care expert to discover lean principles through health care simulations, apply lean thinking to their organizations and begin identifying areas of opportunity. The certificate program consists of four courses: Lean Healthcare Introduction – A Case Study Review, How to Apply Lean Thinking to Healthcare Organizations, Applying Value Stream Mapping and A3 Problem-Solving Methods, and Turnover Time Reduction.

“In this era of decreasing reimbursements and increasing costs, lean methodology can ensure that health care organizations remain viable and safe,” said Richard Mitchell, M.D., medical director of Georgia Tech’s Healthcare Performance Group. “Obtaining your certification as a lean practitioner can put you in a position to help lead your organization into the future.”

For six years, Georgia Tech has been working with health care professionals to conduct lean assessments, teach basic lean concepts, develop value stream maps to analyze the flow of materials and information, and implement rapid process improvement projects. The Healthcare Performance Group has worked with more than 15 hospitals across the state.

“Lean helped us get to the root of our problems in health care: waste. Until you can see it, you don’t appreciate how rampant it is,” said Leigh Hamby, M.D., chief medical officer of Piedmont Healthcare. “Lean tools help you identify and eliminate waste.”

The first hands-on course in the certificate series – How to Apply Lean Thinking to Healthcare Organizations – will be held Oct. 3 through 7 in Atlanta. Enrollment in the courses, totaling 5.4 CEUs, is $3,780. Each paid attendee can register a colleague at no cost. For more information or to register, call 404-385-3501 or visit www.pe.gatech.edu/leanhealth.

For more information on health care performance improvement services offered by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, contact Kelley Hundt (404-894-4607); E-mail: (kelley.hundt@innovate.gatech.edu).

About Enterprise Innovation Institute:

Enterprise Innovation Institute

Georgia Institute of Technology

75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314

Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail (john.toon@innovate.gatech.edu).

Writer: Nancy Fullbright

Patient Health Care Records Ready to Go Viral

Taking control of your health — from organizing medical records and lab results following doctor visits to logging efforts for dropping those few extra pounds — one day might be as easy and intuitive as online banking. A groundbreaking project in northwest Georgia soon will encourage consumers to play a bigger role in their health care by creating electronic personal health records, uploading medical information and images into one easy-to-access location a button click away. . . . The cancer coalition plans to develop its exchange over the next two years, with data sharing beginning in the next six to nine months, said Phil Lamson, a senior health care consultant at the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute. It will focus first on cancer patients but eventually include the chronically ill, as well as healthy people, Lamson said.

http://www.ajc.com/news/patient-health-care-records-1112756.html

New Center Helps Bring Medical Technology to Market

Researchers across Georgia and the Southeast soon will have a new outlet for turning their ideas into reality for medical devices with the launch of the Global Center for Medical Innovation. . . . Ideas for new inventions previously have come from Georgia’s universities, medical practices and others groups, but many weren’t developed because the ability to build prototypes and other support structures weren’t there, and the projects were moved to California and other states, said Wayne Hodges, the center’s executive director. “Too often, they were staying there,” Hodges said. The center will be a resource for developing and testing prototypes, plus connecting with investors or companies interested in devices, he said. It will focus initially on cardiology, orthopedics and pediatrics. Slated to open early next year, the center is a partnership of Georgia Tech, the Georgia Research Alliance, Piedmont Healthcare and Saint Joseph’s Translational Research Institute. It has received roughly $3.6 million in funding from the research alliance and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

http://www.ajc.com/business/new-center-helps-bring-1068812.html