HCC Health Innovation Award - Are your Synapses Sparking?

Have you heard about the Health Council of Canada’s Health Innovation Award? Are you wondering what you could propose to help renew and sustain Canadian health care and why? Here’s a little something that my get your creative juices flowing.

It’s called HealthCampToronto – the “unconference” that brought together more than 75 participants – organizations, patients, government strategists and more – to think about and TAKE ACTION to strengthen Canadian health care now and in the future. Sponsored by IBM and the Health Strategy Innovation Cell, HealthCamp was held on September 16 at the IBM Centre for E-business Innovation.

What did people talk about? Navigation tools for patients with complex health issues, setting up “clinical trials” to test IT solutions in real health care settings, and capturing and distributing aggregate health care data and patterns in a meaningful and useful way. There was more – like the concept of using kids’ “Choose Your Own Adventure” books and DVDs as a model to help patients and their families see what issues might arise for them and where certain decisions could lead. Visit http://www.socialtext.net/hctoronto/index.cgi?the_grid to see the conversation grid that participants populated.

The point is that inspiration for your own contest entry is everywhere. Knowledge and ideas are collateral in this economy, yes. And the knots have been loosened at www.healthcamp.ca so use it as a source of inspiration to release your own idea to help renew and sustain Canadian health care. It’s our future. We have this chance to plan for it.  Send us your entry by December 15th.

Key Words: Health Council of Canada, Innovative Practices