Open Source Solutions

Taken in sum, our health care system is one big mess.

A closer look reveals a series of problems that together create it.

Looking microscopically we find the root causes of those problems.

These microscopic problems are only tiny in view of the big mess.  Microscopic problems are where individuals, small teams, and organizations can have significant impact on positive health care transformation.

It’s the sheer power of crowds.  A lot of people working on a lot of problems create a lot of solutions.

Easier said than done.  That’s why we need an agenda.  That’s why we give rewards for demonstrating success.

The New York Times reported on such an idea.  InnoCentive is an open source solution finder.  The platform brings together seekers and solvers.  Seekers post problems.  Solvers solve them for a cash prize.

From the article:

That specificity is crucial to InnoCentive’s operation, people who have studied the company say. “If you say, ‘find me a cure for cancer’ it may not work,” Dr. Lakhani said. But if problems can be “decomposed” into what he called modular questions, like “find me a biomarker for this condition, these questions may be more tractable.”

InnoCentive has a global health category.  One seeker has broadly asked for “improvements to the United States health care system.”  That won’t work.

A dedicated platform should be created that focuses on specific improvements to the health care system.  Strategies to increase care coordination.  Communication improvements on medication directions.  Measures to better the process of medication reconciliation.

The list is endless.  But taken together, the power of the solutions would make a significant positive impact.