Interchange by Kaiser Permanente Launch and Code-a-thon

"If you don't know the boundaries of something, 


for a brief time your ideas are boundless."

Phillip Torrone,

Zen and the Art of Making,

Make: Magazine

Digital health is the future of health care innovation, and a key component of it will be the ability to easily and securely access information that provides customized user experiences. In the consumer marketplace, this is usually accomplished through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces). APIs are prevalent in the consumer market because they allow for the rapid development of apps that combine existing data, user-centered design, and ease of use to create a customized user experience. To date, APIs have not been widely adopted in health care and the benefits of data collected by and about patients outside of the hospital or clinic remain largely unrealized.

Nearly a decade ago Kaiser Permanente invested in connected care when it pioneered the use of electronic health records in the form of Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®. Connected care set the precedent for care delivery—the ability for members to receive coordinated care from multiple providers with access to complete information for every patient. In 2013, Kaiser Permanente will set out to continue down the path of health care innovation by introducing Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente, the API platform that will allow developers to easily and securely incorporate public Kaiser Permanente data into web and mobile applications.

Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente has the potential to change the health care experience. Kaiser Permanente will no longer be the only designer of the venues in which care experiences occur. While connected health provided doctors with a digital tool to deliver integrated care, digital health will provide the tools for members, providers and independent developers to collaborate and co-create the experiences of care anywhere – beyond hospitals and clinics into everyday life, at home and on the go.

To announce the arrival of Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente, and to harken a new era of collaboration and co-creation, Kaiser Permanente is hosting an invitation only code-a-thon at the Center for Total Health in Washington DC. Over the course of two days, teams of external developers and designers can create an app alongside Kaiser Permanente experts in behavior change, integrated care delivery, and mobile app design and development. This is a chance to have a voice in the direction of Kaiser Permanente’s relationship to a developer community beyond its own workforce. Our goal is to provide developers with the tools and incentives to use Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente, to create the next wave of mobile health apps and to help provide high quality health care for the benefit of Kaiser Permanente members and the communities we serve.

Purpose

Kaiser Permanente is developing solutions for the next generation of health care. We envision a world in which external developers add a beginner’s mindset to digital health and Kaiser Permanente channels that provide perspective toward addressing the most pressing health care challenges – including access, cost, and quality – through the use of specific APIs.

In this Code-a-thon, external teams will utilize Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente, Location API and relevant external data sets to create a unique consumer-focused mobile app to address the daily challenges of a person living with diabetes. One provocation for this Code-a-thon is: “How might we use Kaiser Permanente location data, along with other community, health care and diabetes related data, to help diabetics make healthy decisions on a daily basis?”

Eligibility

This Code-a-thon is hosted by Kaiser Permanente for a limited number of internal and external developers, designers and health care innovators. Participants will receive early access to the Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente Developer Portal, an opportunity to develop a mobile app using the Location API, and a voice in how to engage the external developer community.

The Data and API

External developers and designers will have access to the Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente Location API. We will also provide a suggested list of data sets that will help you create an app to improve the care experience of our members.

This is the first public view of Interchange℠ by Kaiser Permanente, and the first time our location data will be available to the public in this way. The data will be accessible through the Developer Portal beginning June 5, 2013, and available for registered users from that day forward.

FAQs

Q: What do I need to bring?

A: Bring your own laptop and iOS or Android mobile devices (for demo and testing). Also, please bring a photo ID, as the Code-a-Thon is an invitation only event.

Q: Do I need to register ahead of time?

A: Yes. Early registration is highly recommended for this event. The Center for Total Health will be closed to the public for the Code-a-thon and day of registration will be limited.

Q: What will be available to participants?

A: You will have a chance to be among the first developers to create a mobile app with ℠ by Kaiser Permanente Location API. Teams will have a dedicated GitHub repository. Most importantly, you will have a chance to work side-by-side with leaders in health care to learn, share and teach – truly collaborative – to co-create an amazing mobile app experience.

Q: What are the prizes?

A: TBD

Q: What can I do to improve my chances of winning?

A: Judging criteria will be announced at the event. The general rule of thumb is that the team which best incorporates existing care delivery pathways with a focus on user experience has a greater chance of winning. Your team will be structured in a way to allow the right combination of creativity and focus to create an app with a high probability of being used by Kaiser Permanente members.

Q: What else do I get if I participate, other than a T-shirt, food, and maybe a prize?

A: Kaiser Permanente is looking to hire people with good ideas. Strike up a conversation with anyone at the Center for Total Health. Anyone dedicating two days for a Code-a-thon must share a desire to change health care. The Code-a-thon is an opportunity to help create solutions that address real opportunities in health care...you can be part of the solution!

Q: How are teams formed?

A: All participants are asked to register individually and can either form teams ahead of time or at the event. If you wish to form your own team prior to the Code-a-thon, let us know and we will be happy to assign you together. You can also register as an individual participant and we will match you with a team. All teams will have resources intended to maximize the high intensity environment of a Code-a-thon. Luminaries are Kaiser Permanente or hand-selected executives and leaders who act as strategic guides for all teams. Catalysts are Kaiser Permanente or hand-selected subject matter experts who will work side by side with team members to combine the internal and external vision and talent necessary to create a successful app. Team members are the designers developers and project managers who make luminary and catalyst ideas into functional prototypes.

Q: How do I compete?

A: External developers will be team members on at least one team taking on the Location API mashup challenge. The goal of this challenge is to use Kaiser Permanente location data, along with other community, health care and diabetes related data, to help diabetics make healthy decisions on a daily basis.

Agenda

Wednesday June 5th

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Welcome / Registration / Lunch

Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health

• Register - bring ID and sign participation agreement
• Meet and greet - meet the designers, developers, technical, business and clinical leaders working to make Digital Health a reality

12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Kick Off

Madhu Nutakki, Vice President, Digital Health Technology & Strategic Initiatives, Kaiser Permanente

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Ideation

Working with Luminaries and Catalysts, team members begin to formulate their approach and guidelines

3:00 p.m. June 5th -

3:00 p.m. June 6th -

Code-a-thon

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Prep for Pitch and Sell

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

5 minute Pitch and Sell / Judging / Awards

Speaker Bios

Madhu Nutakki

Vice President, Digital Health Technology & Strategic Initiatives, Kaiser Permanente

Mr. Nutakki serves as the Vice President of Digital Presence Technologies at Kaiser Permanente. Prior to this role, as a Vice President at Kaiser Permanente he led several key strategic areas including Solution Design, Platform futures across Servers, Storage, Cloud, Virtualization and Mainframe, design/implementation of KP HealthConnect (KP EMR) and Continuous Availability of life critical systems. He led the Kaiser Permanente secure private cloud IaaS implementation and is actively pursuing implementation of PaaS and SaaS. He brings expertise in leading an Emerging Technologies group chartered with seizing the opportunities of innovation in the areas of Mobile Computing and building the framework for Health Information Exchange. He led a team of more than 300 technologists that focus on providing high performance, high availability, life critical computing to Kaiser Permanente.