The Story…

This past week, I had the privilege of doing one of my favorite things during the year. I joined a group of health care (yes, two words – not one) innovators from the Innovation Learning Network. We traveled to the Netherlands and spent several days in the wonderful city of Nijmegen. During our time in Nijmegen, we were hosted by the REshape Center For Innovation at Radboudumc. I met the head of the center, Lucien Engelen, a couple of years ago in Toronto at one of these same events. At the same time, I met Zayna Khayat, a true innovation sherpa and my sister from another mother.  The theme they chose this week was, “How To Outrun The DoDo!”

Now the stage is set. One hundred health care innovators from the United States, Canada, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and many other countries, tackling systematic innovation around health care vs. healthcare (the care of the human vs. a system).

Here are my three take-aways:

Patient Included – In every sense of those words, The Netherlands has figured this out. I hear every week if not every day about patient-centered or member-centered design in this space, but we have not even tapped “patient included.”  To fully understand this, ourScreenshot 2017-10-22 16.32.46 group was introduced to Anne-Miek Vroom and the Ikone foundation. This group is a non-profit organization of humans who live and support those with chronic disorders. The organization is not an outsider in the system.  They truly co-create. They are intertwined into the health system and aim to bring better health care to all patients (I could write a whole blog on that subject, but not today.)

It’s All About The “Co!” – What does this mean? It means engaging the right people. Not just in mapping or analyzing the problem, but also in action to solve the problem. Helen Bevan, Chief Transformation Officer from the NHS shared that with the group. Very simple to say, but not simple to do.

Helen presented us with the six CO’s her team lives by:

  • Coaching
  • Co-learning
  • Collaborating
  • Co-creating
  • Co-designing
  • Connectivity

Again, a whole blog could be written about Helen’s research and the amazing work the team is going to bring this to light by creating change agents. If you want to READ more the link is included here, as well as the link to Helen’s School for Change Agents. I encourage you to register.  I will be in the school in February!

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Health Innovation School – Why, oh, WHY have we not done this yet? I asked myself that question several times throughout the week. We have so many innovators trying to disrupt the healthcare system, but we have never brought clinicians, patients, start-ups, hospitals, and insurers all together in one-room for an extended period of time to solve the RIGHT PROBLEMS! There will be more to come on this, so be on the look-out!

What I Learned And What You Can Learn…

This is pretty simple. Keep an open mind and explore the possibilities. Surround yourself with people that will push you to new limits and help you think differently. When you go to the Health Innovation School’s website, there is a great quote:

“Innovation is now a competency necessary for everyone across health and care, no matter what role or level.”

So, who are you going to surround yourself with to change the system from being healthcare to health and care?

What I Will Do And What You Can Do…

Take 15 minutes today and find one person to “hack” away with. Whether it be your personal passion or your professional passion, just do it.

This is How You Can Outrun The DoDo!”


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