Hackathons as Stepping Stones in Health Care Innovation: Case Study With Systematic Recommendations

Abstract

Background Until recently, developing health technologies was time-consuming and expensive, and often involved patients, doctors, and other health care professionals only as passive recipients of the end product. So far, users have been minimally involved in the ideation and creation stages of digital health technologies. In order to best address users’ unmet needs, a transdisciplinary and user-led approach, involving cocreation and direct user feedback, is required. In this context, hackathon events have become increasingly popular in generating enthusiasm for user-centered innovation. Objective This case study describes preparatory steps and the performance of a health hackathon directly involving patients and health care professionals at all stages. Feasibility and outcomes were assessed, leading to the development of systematic recommendations for future hackathons as a vehicle for bottom-up innovation in health care. Methods A 2-day hackathon was conducted in February 2017 in Berlin, Germany. Data were collected through a field study. Collected field notes were subsequently discussed in 15 informal meetings among the research team. Experiences of conducting two further hackathons in December 2017 and November 2018 were included. Results In total, 30 participants took part, with 63% (19/30) of participants between 25 and 34 years of age, 30% (9/30) between 35 and 44 years of age, and 7% (2/30) younger than 25 years of age. A total of 43% (13/30) of the participants were female. The participation rate of medical experts, including patients and health care professionals, was 30% (9/30). Five multidisciplinary teams were formed and each tackled a specific health care problem. All presented projects were apps: a chatbot for skin cancer recognition, an augmented reality exposure-based therapy (eg, for arachnophobia), an app for medical neighborhood connectivity, a doctor appointment platform, and a self-care app for people suffering from depression. Patients and health care professionals initiated all of the projects. Conducting the hackathon resulted in significant growth of the digital health community of Berlin and was followed up by larger hackathons. Systematic recommendations for conducting cost-efficient hackathons (n≤30) were developed, including aspects of community building, stakeholder engagement, mentoring, themes, announcements, follow-up, and timing for each step. Conclusions This study shows that hackathons are effective in bringing innovation to health care and are more cost- and time-efficient and potentially more sustainable than traditional medical device and digital product development. Our systematic recommendations can be useful to other individuals and organizations that want to establish user-led innovation in academic hospitals by conducting transdisciplinary hackathons.

Improvements in Patient Monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit: Survey Study

“…More than cooperation, transdisciplinarity refers to the development of common theories, mutual observation, and search for challenges and needs [ 42 ]. Hackathons (weekend innovation events) are an excellent playground for transdisciplinary work, and participation should be encouraged and remunerated by medical manufacturers and hospital providers [ 43 ].…”

Interdisciplinary Online Hackathons as an Approach to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic: Case Study

“…Hacking Health is a global nonprofit organization that pairs innovators with health care experts [ 6 ]. Its Berlin chapter organized its first online hackathon in partnership with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (the largest university hospital in Europe), the Berlin Institute of Health, Diabetes Center Berne, and Data Natives (an online community of data scientists and developers).…”

“…The core organizing team consisted of 7 volunteers to set up digital tools; scheduling; marketing outreach strategy for recruitment of participants, cooperating partners, participant and mentor communication; and coordination. An implementation strategy previously designed and used for in-person hackathons by Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Hacking Health Berlin [ 6 ] was adjusted accordingly.…”

“…Hackathons are collaborative multiday events that bring people from different professional and personal backgrounds face to face in a venue to work on specific challenges. Previous publications have shown how health hackathons work as an effective model of interdisciplinary collaboration, capable of forwarding recommendations and viable solutions effectively [ 2 - 36 ]; however, they often require several months of preparation and considerable financing [ 6 , 34 ].…”

Internet Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With or Without Face-to-Face Psychotherapy: A 12-Weeks Clinical Trial of Patients With Depression

“…Digital health is rapidly nascent, and a variety of future perspectives need considerations. First, the most important direction that needs to be tackled is the use of (i) chatbots using artificial intelligence and machine learning rather than decision trees, (ii) embodied conversational avatars, or even (iii) hackathons that have the potential to increase patients' therapy adherence, responsiveness, beneficial behavioral patterns, and social interactions to overcome depression and to pave the way to personalized medicine in mental health (49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57). Second, objective outcome measurements are important to emphasize the beneficial effect of online therapy trials using neuroimaging, e.g., diffusion tensor imaging and functional magnetic resonance imaging, which can help to elucidate microstructural changes in the white matter tracts of the interhemispheric and frontalsubcortical neural circuits that are impaired in depression (58), or to depict the striatal hypoactivation of the reward neuronal network within unipolar depression when anticipating and consuming rewards (59), or epigenetic and modifiable factors, e.g., the dense DNA methylation status of the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1), which is associated with early life stress and disposes to major depression disorder (60).…”