January 26, 2022 | View Archived Issues
SUSAN AHERN
Vice President
of Innovation
A Note from...
Susan Ahern - Vice President of Innovation, MaineHealth
As we look to the new year ahead, I am most excited to create additional impact with all of the MaineHealth innovators and collaborators we have yet to discover.

I'm delighted to highlight our Innovation Clinical Coaches who provide clinical insights and expertise to our team, innovators, and business development experts who we work with to solve unmet care needs. If you are interested in being an Innovation Clinical Coach, please reach out anytime.

The upcoming MaineHealth Innovation Spring 2022 programs - the Innovation Cohort and the Innovation Ignite Fund - are wonderful ways to accelerate care team members' ideas and encourage innovation across our healthcare system. All of our 22,000 care team members from across MaineHealth who have a novel solution to an unmet care need are encouraged to apply. Our services are designed to provide the connections, education and funding needed to truly transform care through innovation.

Come join us!

Best,
Susan
INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT
Helping Newborns in Distress:
Augmented Reality for Neonatal Resuscitation
Helping newborns in distress is the goal of Augmented RealityTechnology for Medical Simulation (ARTforMS) – an immersive experience that layers AR over traditional manikins. Learn how MaineHealth Innovation is supporting pediatric hospital medicine and critical care experts, Dr. Mary Ottolini and Dr. Michael Ferguson, as they continue leading a pilot with the software application at Maine Medical Center and throughout the MaineHealth system. 
INNOVATION CLINICAL COACH SPOTLIGHT
The MaineHealth Innovation Clinical Coaches help drive the success of MaineHealth Innovation by providing clinical leadership and expertise as innovators work to solve unmet care needs. Each month, an Innovation Clinical Coach will be highlighted to recognize their support of MaineHealth Innovation.
Want to connect with Brandy?

Check out the upcoming "Diversity & Gender: Health & Wellness" Grand Rounds sponsored by The Gender Clinic and MITE to learn more about Gender Affirming Surgery and how to improve access to this important care for Maine patients.

Date: Thursday, Feb. 3
Time: 9:00 - 10:30am
Where: Zoom Webinar
Brandy Brown, LCSW
MaineHealth Innovation Clinical Coach &
Program Manager, The Gender Clinic Program at
The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital
at Maine Medical Center
"In order to provide excellent healthcare now and in the future, we need to be open, to be vulnerable, to think differently, to encourage each other, and to disrupt what is comfortable."
Brandy Brown, LCSW, (she/ her, they/ them), is the Program Manager for The Gender Clinic Program at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. She provides assessment, therapy, coordination of medical and mental health services, and program development within a multidisciplinary setting. Brandy has been a MaineHealth Innovation Clinical Coach since 2021.

She has worked within different systems of care, including psychiatric inpatient hospitalization, residential settings with vulnerable populations, including homeless youth, severe psychiatric disorders, veterans and neuro-rehabilitation.

Brandy is an advocate for improving LGBTQ+ healthcare, with a clinical focus on best practices in transgender health within pediatrics, as well as improving overall systemic competency and functionality within a large healthcare system. Relevant memberships and affiliations include: WPATH, NASW (President of the Maine Board of Directors and Chair of the NASW- Maine Chapter Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee), several MaineHealth Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committees, including Co-Chair of the MMC Equitable Patient Care Committee, New England Gender C.A.R.E. Consortium, & LGBTQ Youth Coalition (Maine). Read more.

Learn more about the
PROGRAM UPDATES
Innovation Cohort | Innovation Elective | Innovation Fund | Innovation Blender |
Brewing Ideas Coffee Corner
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!
MaineHealth Innovation Spring 2022 Programs

This 8-week program helps MaineHealth care team members advance an early innovative "back of the envelope" idea that addresses an unmet care need.

Application Deadline
April 1, 2022 at 12:00pm EST 

Innovation Cohort
Information Sessions
Join the MaineHealth Innovation team to learn more about the Innovation Cohort program and application process.

Feb. 1, 2022 | 8–8:30am Register here. 
Feb. 14, 2022 | 1–1:30pm Register here. 
Feb. 23, 2022 | 4:30–5pm. Register here. 


The 12-month MaineHealth Innovation Ignite Fund provides an investment of up to $20,000 to help innovators understand their user pain points, pilot an idea, build a prototype, or test an assumption.

Application Deadline
March 15, 2022 at 12:00pm EST
Innovation Ignite Fund
Information Sessions
Join the MaineHealth Innovation team to learn more about the Innovation Ignite Fund and application process.

Feb. 3, 2022 |12–12:30pm. Register here.
Feb. 15, 2022 | 8–8:30am. Register here.
Feb. 24, 2022 | 4:30–5pm. Register here.

Need help filling out an application?
Join us for MaineHealth Innovation Office Hours every other Friday beginning
February 11th from 12:00-1:00pm EST via Zoom. Register here.
INNOVATION 101
In each issue, we are featuring tips for developing skills to “think differently” and to adopt a more innovative mindset. Each Discovery Skill is based on the work of Jeffrey Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen, leaders in disruptive innovation. Last month we covered questioning. Last month we covered questioning in our December newsletter. Using these skills may inspire and challenge you to create new innovative insights.

Discovery Skill: Experimenting

“I haven’t failed….I’ve just found 10,000 ways that do not work.”
— Thomas Edison 

Innovation is all about experimenting! And what we mean by experimenting is trying something new to foster idea generation and learning. Experimenting doesn’t require being in the lab. We might experiment by trying a new experience or learning about something new. We also might experiment around a specific innovation idea or project by testing our assumptions through talking with potential users or working on developing prototypes to see how an innovation might work in the real world. All of these types of experimentation help us learn new things that might spark ideas for innovation. Learn more about the power of experimenting in this short video from Hal Gregersen, coauthor of the Innovator’s DNA.
Skills in Action: Suzanne Wendelken, MD an Anesthesiology Resident at Maine Medical Center is an avid snorkeler and after one snorkeling trip she began to think to herself that the mouth piece on a snorkel might just be the thing that could help her create a better seal when bag-masking patients. Suzanne started her innovation journey by experimenting with a snorkel she had at home and is now working with the University of Southern Maine Maker Innovation Studio to refine her prototype so she can begin validation testing. Learn more about The Scorpion.  

Taking the Next Step: There are many ways to start experimenting! If learning something new is something you’re interested in maybe joining a MaineHealth Works on Wellness program is a place to start. Perhaps a course at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University will spark some new ideas! Check out the partnership MaineHealth has created with The Roux to offer scholarships for courses and programs. 

Already have an idea that you want to test out or see if you can prototype? Join the Innovation Coffee Corner or apply for the next cycle of the Innovation Cohort.
CONNECT
Events

Brewing Ideas Coffee Corner
1st + 3rd Tuesdays of each month
Feb. 1 | 8:30-9:30am
Feb. 15 | 8:30-9:30am

Intellectual Property
Information Session
2nd Wednesdays of each month
Feb. 9 | 7:30-8:00am
EDUCATE
Learn + Discover

Join the i-Corps Spark
Program at MIT!
This FREE 3-week program helps participants explore the potential
of their new technologies
and inventions.


Maine Technology Institute (MTI)
 & Partners Events

Business Basics
Feb. 2, 2022 | 12:00pm
FUND
Support Opportunities

Apply for the MaineHealth Innovation
Ignite Fund!

The Ignite Fund provides seed capital to help advance innovations. This investment of up to $20,000 can help innovators understand user pain points, build a prototype or test an assumption.

MaineHealth Innovation Services
Through education, connections and funding, we are fostering a culture of innovation across the MaineHealth system to advance novel solutions that address unmet care needs.

MaineHealth Innovation Center Programs

Help us celebrate innovation!


Help us celebrate innovation and create a resource for sharing
innovation across MaineHealth by submitting your innovation story!
Let us know how we can help support innovation:

The MaineHealth Innovation
Susan Ahern - Vice President of Innovation
Elena Brondolo, MPH, MBA - Manager of Innovation
Kim Harvey, MSOL - Program Manager, Innovation
Todd Keiller, MBA - Director of Intellectual Property & Tech Transfer
Savannah Young - Executive Assistant I