Penn Medicine picks three for second round of innovation grants

The Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation will fund three new initiatives in the second round of its  Innovation Grant Program, a program that encourages Penn employees and students to submit their ideas for advancing health and healthcare delivery. Winners receive funding and support from the Center for Health Care Innovation to facilitate the rapid translation of ideas into action and measurable outcomes over six months. 

The Philadelphia institution received 56 different ideas for review this spring.

“The innovation grant program allows us to help thought leaders across Penn Medicine accelerate programs and practices with the potential to make a meaningful difference in healthcare delivery,” said David Asch, MD, MBA, professor of medicine and executive director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation. “We were excited by the level of interest from our colleagues, and we are eager to begin work in June.”

• Cloud-based platform for ICU EEG monitoring and visualizing results

A team led by Brian Litt, MD, a professor in neurology & bioengineering, will build an automated, cloud-based platform for intensive care unit (ICU) EEG interpretation. 
 
Recent studies show a large percentage of ICU patients, most of whom are continuously monitored with EEGs, have seizures, brain ischemia, encephalopathy or other conditions that can be detected early on an EEG, allowing therapy to be initiated promptly. 

Continuous long-term EEG monitoring currently presents two major problems: it must be interpreted manually by physicians, delaying the delivery of results to the caregivers, and those caregivers rely on written reports from these studies, thus inhibiting the ability to view trends over time or forecast when a patient’s condition may deteriorate. The project aims to build an automated, cloud-based system for interpreting long-term ICU EEG data to speed response to changes in patients’ conditions and improve patient outcomes.

• Telemedicine to improve access to genetic services

Angela R. Bradbury, MD, an assistant professor of hematology-oncology in the Abramson Cancer Center, will use telemedicine to increase access to genetic testing and counseling services.

With genetic testing for cancer susceptibility now an essential component of oncology care, there is an increased need for genetic counseling specialists. Testing is typically available only at large academic facilities, leaving many providers and patients without access to genetic counseling locally. Genetic testing should always be conducted in conjunction with proper pre- and post- test counseling to contextualize the test and outline what the results may mean. As genomic applications in oncology expand, the demand for genetic expertise will increase and gaps in delivery will worsen. Through an NIH study, Bradbury and her team showed telemedicine can be an effective way to expand genetic services to populations with limited or no access to care. The new project seeks to transition the team’s research-supported telemedicine program to a sustainable clinical model. 

• Technology to Improve Prenatal Services

Ian Bennett, MD, PhD, an associate professor of family medicine & community health, leads this initiative that uses text messages to engage and educate patients, enabling early interventions to reduce poor pregnancy outcomes.

Low income women have high rates of poor pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight, preterm birth and preeclampsia. Signs of these conditions and associated risk factors can be identified in the course of prenatal care and targeted by interventions, but the effectiveness of prenatal visits can be limited by patient literacy and engagement, as well as limited time to educate them. Delays in the identification of these disorders can result in poor perinatal outcomes.

Penn Medicine’s Helen O. Dickens Center for Women serves more than 3,000 low income patients each year, primarily African-American women who are at increased risk for these outcomes. The project will create an application to deliver information regarding signs and symptoms of adverse pregnancy conditions to at-risk women via text message. Fundamental to this project is the belief that an informed and engaged patient will increase the effectiveness of monitoring for pregnancy disorders.