Innovation Challenge is back for its second year. 

The campus-wide initiative, aimed at creating positive change through innovative thinking, kicked off May 1.

Special guest Patricia Hurn, vice chancellor of research and innovation at the University of Texas System, will join Dr. David Callender, Dr. Danny Jacobs and Donna Sollenberger on the Challenge Tank's executive leadership panel, which will review Innovation Challenge solutions.

Innovation Challenge debuted May 2013, as a program to encourage innovation through open discussions and leadership training.

Teams present ideas on improving UTMB to the executive leadership team in a format modeled after ABC television’s hit show “Shark Tank.”  The goal is to unite UTMB leadership and employees to better realize UTMB’s goal of “working together to work wonders.” 

You’re encouraged to get involved in Innovation Challenge 2014 and be part of the solution.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1:  IDEAxCHANGE

Post solutions, challenges, ideas, problems and/or comments to the online IDEAxCHANGE forum and/or vote for your favorite post. When appropriate, IDEAxCHANGE moderators will help connect posted ideas and problems with UTMB administrators for prompt review, feedback and action. Post an idea and you’ll be entered in a weekly drawing for an iPad. You will also be placed in the iPad drawing if your ideas are "best liked" or if you are one of the most active participants. 

Click here to submit your ideas by May 31.    

Step 2:  Collaborative Innovation Course

Join a Web-based distance-learning class and learn social-dynamic approaches that promote creative problem-solving.  Participants will be grouped in teams to apply their newly learned creative-thinking techniques to develop solutions to challenges or problems selected from the IDEAxCHANGE forum. 
Limited to 35 participants. Click here to register by May 17. 

Step 3:  Challenge Tank

All of UTMB is invited to come out and watch teams present their solutions to Dr. Callender and the executive leadership panel. The executive panel will decide if they will “champion” a team to implement its solution.  Challenge Tank will be held Aug. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Levin Hall Auditorium.

Step 4: Rollout

Teams and their executive champions jointly develop a plan to move creative solutions into action.  This is where idea implementation takes place, as teams balance finances, logistics and communication to make an idea come to life.

One of last year’s teams, consisting of Victor Moreno, Olivia Butler, Patricia Delgado, Lakshmi Mcrae and Steven Freeman, were able to put their innovation challenge ideas into practice.  The team was championed by Donna Sollenberger, UTMB Health System CEO. Sollenberger moved forward with their idea of creating a patient brochure to build better patient/provider relationships. 

The brochure is currently being tested at the Family Medicine Island West Clinic. It serves as a navigational guide for patients.  The brochure provides clinic patients with information on transportation services to the clinic, contact information for language assistance, an overview of the entire medical care team and more.

“We hand them out to all new patients and our patients love them,” said practice manager Candace Jones. 

If you want to be a part of the solution at UTMB and see your bright idea put into action, then join Innovation Challenge 2014.  

For more information, contact Stan Watowich.