Wired and HP have worked together to find 10 individuals who are rethinking the modern day hospital, whether through IT initiatives or improved means of waste management.
Here are the Wired HP Re-Inventors.
1. Gary Cohen, president and cofounder of Health Care Without Harm. Mr. Cohen is working to reduce hospitals' waste and therefore decrease their harm on the environment. His efforts have already helped Boston-based Beth Israel-Deaconess and thousands of other healthcare facilities remove mercury thermometers.
2. Dr. Paul Schmidt, consultant physician in acute medicine at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust. Dr. Schmidt designed an electronic system — called VitalPAC — that helps monitor and record patients' vital signs at their bedside. The mobile system, which has been proved to decrease death rates, has already been implemented at 51 hospitals in the United Kingdom.
3. Åke Östman, CEO of AISAB. Based in Sweden, AISAB was the first in the country to make an "environmental ambulance," which removed environmentally harmful chemicals and plastics and reduced hazardous effects on the planet.
4. Fabrice Goffin, managing partner at Zora Robotics. Mr. Goffin's company, Zora Robotics, is using robots in patient-facing roles. A few of the company's bots are capable of holding conversations with elderly patients. Zora Robotics' technology is also being tested as robot hospital receptionists in Belgium.
5. Erik S. Poulsen, MD, CEO and cofounder of Cortrium. Dr. Poulsen and his company have created a Bluetooth device that records patients' vital signs, including their body temperatures. If future tests prove fruitful, the device could allow physicians to remotely monitor patients from home.
6. Ana Maiques, CEO of Neuroelectrics. Neuroelectronics has developed devices that stimulate and treat the human brain. Through wearables and other wireless software, Ms. Maiques' company is working to make brain scanning more mobile.
7. Stefan van Rooijen, MD, PhD, CEO and founder of VisitU. In 2015, Dr. van Rooijen launched VisitU, which uses virtual reality headsets to enable patients to see outside the hospital's walls. Patients can see and speak with family and friends that are not in the medical facility.
8. Lucien Engelen, director of Radbound University Medical Centre's Radboundumc REshape Center for Innovation. With Mr. Engelen's assistance, the Netherlands-based RadboundumcREshapeCenter for Innovation has led the way in bringing technologies — like Google Glass — to a clinical setting. Mr. Engelen's next project involves launching the REshapeCenter for Healthcare Design.
9. Rufus Grig, former CTO of Azzurri Communications. In his work at Azzurri Communications, Mr. Grig helped University College London Hospitals implement a more effective digital strategy.
10. Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy. St. Louis-based Mercy offers financial assistance programs for uninsured patients at 45 of its acute care and specialty hospitals and 700 of its physician practices. Mr. Britton has been with the nonprofit for more than 18 years.
Wired and HP also mentioned the work Switzerland-based Schulthess Klinik is doing to make its printer usage more environmentally friendly.