New Patient Safety Technology Challenge Winners Announced in September

Hack Duke winners (from left to right): Michael Bryant and Kevin Deng.

The Patient Safety Technology Challenge announced winners of two sponsored events that took place in September. This month also marks the one-year anniversary of the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, and a brief video of the initiative's progress to date can be viewed here.

HackDuke awarded a $500 award to Patient Watch, the winner of the patient safety track established through Pittsburgh Regional Heath Initiative's funding. HackDuke was held September 8-10 on Duke University's Durham, North Carolina campus. Patient Watch is an automatic monitoring and warning system solution to alleviate burden on front-line workers. It monitors patients' conditions through web cameras and alerts staff to suboptimal conditions. Team members include Michael Bryant, Lilly Chivetta, and Kevin Deng.

HopHacks awarded a $750 prize for the best technology-enabled patient safety solution to Countability. HopHacks was held at Johns Hopkins University on September 15-17, coinciding with World Patient Safety Day on the 17th. The winner, Countabilty, employs computer vision and object tracking to take real-time inventory of surgical implements during procedures. It sends alerts when objects are unaccounted for to reduce medical harm from surgical tools being left in patients. Members of the winning team are: Samuel Lihn, Malcom Krolick, Shivam Aarya, and Tarini Basireddy.

Congratulations to the winning teams and thank you to the organizers of the events for including the issue of patient safety as an option for innovators and entrepreneurs to address with their solutions.

Read about past competitions involved in the Patient Safety Technology Challenge at the Patient Safety Technology Challenge website.