hack·a·thon (n.): An event, often spanning a period of days, in which programmers and others involved in software, Web or app development come together to create new products, usually under a common theme or in an attempt to solve a problem.
As a rapidly changing healthcare industry increasingly demands innovation, several hospital and health system leaders have taken to hosting hackathons to bring talented developers together to collaborate on IT solutions to some of healthcare's biggest woes.
The following hospitals have hosted hackathons:
NewYork Presbyterian (New York City)
NYP's hackathon focused on developing apps that would improve patients' overall experience at the hospital. The winning app, developed by Health Warriors, allows inpatients to connect with each other based on common interests and play online games with each other.
Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston)
In conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's H@cking Medicine program, BWH's inaugural hackathon last year saw 54 entrants. The winning product, developed by Ring Leaders, uses a 3-D printer to create a ring worn by patients during a stress test that uploads EKG and other readings to a mobile app for physician review.
UPMC (Pittsburgh)
At UPMC's first hackathon last May, about 150 of the health system's own employees gathered to develop their ideas into products. The five winning teams were each given $20,000 out of the IT budget to help further develop their ideas. UPMC plans on hosting more hackathons in the future, including events that bring in outside developers.
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