Minneapolis-based Medtronic, a medical device provider, is using patient experiences to drive new technological and business strategies at its Applied Innovation Lab.
Here are four things to know about Medtronic's Applied Innovation Lab.
1. The lab opened in Minneapolis in September 2015 as part of Medtronic's pursuit of value-based healthcare, Scott Mark, director of healthcare innovation at Medtronic, told Becker's Hospital Review.
2. The lab acts as a collaborative space for Medtronic employees, customers, healthcare providers and partners to discuss certain healthcare challenges. Mr. Mark said the lab is "all about putting the patient experience into action — not just about culture change."
3. A key component of the Applied Innovation Lab is a 360-degree, 9-foot-tall retractable video screen. When the circular screen is lowered, teams in the innovation lab become immersed in a 20-foot-wide space depicting to-scale videos of patients. The video allows participants to brainstorm possible solutions to the problems presented in the simulated environment, which could be a patient needing care in their living room or an emergency department in a different country.
4. "We've seen our provider customers in particular struggle with changes in the healthcare environment around payment model changes, a new focus on outcomes and patient satisfaction in the form of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores … We acknowledge that and have internalized it," Mr. Mark said. "We're investing in our capabilities to understand industry changes and partnering with providers to explore how it affects care delivery."