102. HACKING OUR WAY TO IMPROVEMENT: LEVERAGING THE HEALTHCARE HACKATHON TO ENGAGE HOUSESTAFF IN QI

Abstract

Residents and fellows are uniquely positioned to identify opportunities to improve systems of care delivery, yet are often underrepresented in quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Healthcare Hackathons have gained traction over the past decade as a successful innovation tool that relies on a multidisciplinary team tackling modern healthcare problems. In order to engage trainees in the quality and safety mission of our institution, the Housestaff Quality and Safety Council hosted a Healthcare Hackathon with the goal of quickly identifying quality and safety priorities of trainees. The hackathon was hosted over 3 hours. The event was divided into 4 parts: problem identification, solution generation, solution creation, and presentation. All attendees participated in discussion for problem identification and solution generation. Attendees then divided into teams to discuss concrete solutions. Lastly, each team gave a short presentation about their problem and next steps and received feedback on their ideas. Over 40 people attended the event including pediatric residents, clinical fellows across multiple divisions, improvement advisors, and hospital leaders in education, QI, safety, and informatics. Over 40 problems were identified spanning 5 themes: 1) Error Reporting, 2) Handoffs, 3) Intra-hospital Communication, 4) Health Equity, and 5) High Value Care. A post-hackathon survey allowed attendees to vote on 1 housestaff-led project to focus on for the upcoming academic year. The survey also indicated that 100% of attendees felt the hackathon stimulated creativity and discussion and would attend again in following years. Housestaff have an intimate knowledge of the hospital healthcare ecosystem but are often underrepresented in improvement efforts throughout the hospital. The modified healthcare hackathon is a novel approach that provides trainees a place for rapid generation of ideas and problem-solving. This model is a powerful platform to launch innovative ideas quickly institution-wide and has the potential to engage a large interdisciplinary group of learners.