Patient Safety Technology Challenge Announces Three New Competitions

Three new competitions joined the Patient Safety Technology Challenge this month. Funded by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and administered by the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, the Patient Safety Technology Challenge is designed to fuel the engagement of students and innovators in creating solutions and envisioning transformational approaches to reduce preventable harm from medical errors and reimagine a vastly safer healthcare system.

The Society of Critical Care Medicine's (SSCM) Discovery Datathon will be a collaborative event held on August 5-6 connecting clinicians with data scientists to develop pragmatic data-driven models applicable to the care of critically ill patients using de-identified critical care electronic health record datasets. Patient safety has been woven into the goals of the Datathon. The goals are to: Identify the factors that contribute to patient safety problems in critical care; develop data-driven solutions to address these problems; and raise awareness of the issue of patient safety and the need for action. The winning team will be invited to travel to SCCM's conference in Arizona in January 2024 to present their idea and receive their award.

Hack the Nest is the DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) area's largest high school hackathon hosted by The Hack Foundation. With the support of experienced professors, mentors, and judges, the winning patient safety project will earn $500 and guidance to further develop their idea. This year's event will be held in Sterling, Virginia, September 23-24. Applications close September 14^th, apply here.

DivHacks is Columbia University's premier student-led annual diversity hackathon open to university students. The Patient Safety Tech Track will challenge participants to devise innovative solutions that enhance the quality of care, reduce medical errors, and ensure the well-being of patients. By exploring system improvements and effective protocols, we aim to foster a healthcare environment that values patient safety. The hackathon will be held at Columbia University on September 23-24 and applications close September 1, apply here.