Technological Innovation in Healthcare: Disrupting Old Systems to Create More Value for African American Patients in Academic Medical Centers.

Healthcare in the United States (U.S.) has made incredible advances, but inefficiency and high costs continue to permeate the system. Urban and underserved communities face the greatest array of healthcare problems including the need to improve the quality of care provided them, disproportionate levels of poverty among different groups in the U.S., and the number of unhealthy people disproportionately represented by mostly African American and Hispanic populations. Academic medical centers (AMCs) are major community stakeholders who work to fulfill the increasing healthcare demands of underserved communities. With the tripartite mission of delivering high quality care to patients, undertaking clinical and laboratory research, and training future health professionals, AMCs have a unique ability to address health concerns of the most vulnerable populations. Innovations in healthcare technology are critical to ensure that AMCs properly address health disparities and the specific health concerns of rapidly growing African American populations. Awareness of these disparities may lead to improved processes and protocol implementation, which can promote innovation and quality improvement to allow AMCs to remain a key player in addressing population-based clinical research, quality of care, and health disparities nationwide.

Information at the Point of Care: An Informational Application for Cancer Resources.

The purpose of this project was to design, develop, and modify a cancer resource application (app) that providers, patients, and caregivers could use to locate local and national cancer resources. The project design used a modified version of the Questionnaire for User Interaction Survey 7.0 to gather information from a convenience sample of nurses and community participants regarding their perception of the app. These data helped to identify gaps in resources and modifications needed to make the app more user-friendly. The current cancer care system is complex, and patients often complain of uncoordinated care, lack of information, and insufficient psychosocial support. Cancer centers are working to meet the American College of Surgeons 2015 recommendation of psychosocial assessment and referrals; the Cancer Resource APP described here provides the resources to meet this need. Prototypes of the app were tested in practice and community settings, then solicited feedback guided needed technology modifications. The resulting Cancer Resource APP provides the healthcare community with information to make timely and consistent referrals for patients and caregivers.