The creative process is always fun and has the potential to yield great things for all. Recently, I was part of a very cool brainstorm session where I got to see ideas build and grow.

AT&T has developed a way to outreach to developers worldwide in what we call the “Fast Pitch” program. Basically, this gives innovative companies, entrepreneurs and developers a chance to go on a “speed date” with the right people inside our organization – to share their ideas on new products and services. We’ve established three AT&T Foundries, or innovation centers, in the last couple of years, to convert new ideas into reality in highly-focused “sprints” (as opposed to the marathon it takes to come to market traditionally). This can provide new products and services to our customers three times faster than typically required.

Fast Pitch for Healthcare

I’m very excited to say that I was able to participate in our first-ever healthcare focused Fast Pitch session. We gathered a group of industry leaders that meet with us to provide professional insight called the Healthcare Advisory Council (HEAC), and brought them to the Foundry in Plano, TX. I got to listen is as the HEAC members had a chance to brainstorm with five companies — collaborating on how technology can transform an innovative idea into a reality.Innovative Healthcare Technologies

A few of the technologies discussed at the Healthcare Fast Pitch included:

• A virtual health assistant designed to help reduce hospital readmissions by offering a tool to engage patients when they go home and a portal that enables caregivers to track their status and conduct virtual video visits if needed.
• Integrated monitoring system to address the misuse of controlled substances through wirelessly monitoring whether or not a pill has been taken.
• A monitoring solution that can check patients at the door designed to help reduce the number of “working sick” in the workplace.

It’s an exciting time in the healthcare world. Technology can help improve the quality of care, reduce costs, and contribute to a healthier world. And much of this technology comes in the form of mobile apps. These apps are making a necessary shift — to create a more complete, accessible, and personalized healthcare experience.

Collaborative Progress

The goal for innovation like this is for disparate applications to link together in a way that is truly meaningful and useful to the user. No one company can do it all, and we want to encourage and facilitate innovation that can have a greater impact.

We all need to work together to help transform mHealth from a niche play into wide scale implementation as a standard of care. Innovation and collaboration are going to drive this change forward. And, these developers are the true innovators.