TMC PULSE

June 2016 Pulse

Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/686754

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 26 of 43

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 6 25 One of the key factors to the success of this year's hackathon was the diversity of the hackers. This also goes to highlight how competitive our program has become. — FARZAD SOLEIMANI, M.D. Associate Director of TMC Biodesign and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine yearlong hackathon," said Burugupalli, business strategist at TMC Biodesign. "We couldn't imagine a better way to test the candidates than to see how they do in this environment." When Burugupalli worked in Boston as part of Massachusetts General Hospital-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Co.Create, an academic incu- bator pairing early MIT startups with clinical design input and mentorship, he saw firsthand the value that hackathons brought to the ecosystems they serve. For example, PillPack, a pharmacy that provides personalized prescription packs, originated from a hackathon, Burugupalli said. Co-founders TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen pursued the idea and have since raised $62 million. Their idea was named one of the "25 Best Inventions of 2014" by Time magazine. "Great things come out of hackathons, and at the minimum, you get this community that allows the ecosystem to grow," Burugupalli added. Once he and Soleimani started building out the event, it attracted interest from the Clinton Foundation, which came on board as a partner. "On a daily basis, EMS brings a large number of patients with mental health or substance use disorders to our department. Not having access to their medical information complicates the process of diagnosis and treatment," said Soleimani, who is also an emergency medicine attending at Harris Health System's Ben Taub Hospital, one of the top five busiest emergency departments in the country, and the only hospital in Houston with 24-hour emergency psychiatry services. The Clinton Foundation brought a focus on emer- gency medical services, including mental health triage in hospital emergency departments. "In both clinics and hospitals, there is a general lack of capacity and support for individuals seeking mental health advice from clinicians, and many don't have the necessary resources to screen the person when they come into the emergency room, arrive at a regularly scheduled visit or seek health or wellness services. That is having corollary effects on their usage of medical facilities," explained Alex Chan, director of national health for the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, and one of the partners of the hackathon. Unfortunately, when someone goes into the ER suffering from a mental illness, those symptoms may be masked by other symptoms, so there is often a misdiagnosis and a missed opportunity for a warm handoff to psychiatrists for therapy, he added. CHMI would like to see a system or platform created to allow for better screening during the intake or first visit, which Chan said was just as important as follow-up care and referrals. "If they are going to specialized care, how do we ensure that the care is provided immediately or the appropriate follow-up is done the next day or within a week?" Chan added. "This is something larger medical clinics are also looking at."

Articles in this issue

view archives of TMC PULSE - June 2016 Pulse