Creativity reigned at the second annual NursePitch™, a collaboration between the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS) and sponsored by BD. This virtual event, which took place in August, gave nurses the opportunity to pitch their innovative products to a panel of expert judges who represented industry, healthcare, and venture capitalists. 

“We are excited to continue the NursePitch competition to offer nurse innovators the opportunity to bring their ideas to the stage and share how these ideas apply to clinical practice,” said Christel Anderson, vice president of informatics at HIMSS. “Nurses have incredible knowledge and experiences, and our goal is to inspire nurses to embrace this capability and turn their ideas into action.” 

Finalists were asked questions about their product, such as what problem it solves, its cost to produce, target markets, and specific details about how it would work. Cash prizes to further develop innovations were awarded for first, second, and third place.

“Nurses courageously shared their work during this national 2020 NursePitch event. Their pitches highlighted some of the expansive ways in which our profession is leading to create and transform health,” said Oriana Beaudet, DNP, RN, PHN, vice president of nursing innovation at ANA. “We are committed to continuing to grow and support the nurse innovators who are paving new possibilities across healthcare.” Here are the winners. 

First place: AMPAworks (ampaworks.com) recognized that inventory and supplies are the second leading cost in hospitals today. The average hospital spends about $10 million annually on supply chain waste from labor hours that go toward hand-counting and replenishing inventory. The AMPAworks interprofessional team, including Bianca Gonzalez, PhD, MBA, NP, co-founder and CEO, has built a computer vision-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) system that keeps track of inventory in real-time. This suite of devices and software applications provides workflow tasks, accounts for inventory used during patient-related tasks, and gives feedback to team members, enabling healthcare organizations to promote safety, improve quality, and track inventory and supply chain. 

Second place: Nurses and healthcare teams need relief from administrative burdens and a clear picture of their day-to-day workflow. Edgility Cognitive Healthcare (edgilityhealth.com) is a healthcare technology company that maximizes existing health system investments to create air traffic control-like situational awareness with actionable data so nurses can focus on patient outcomes. According to Chief Outcomes Officer Lisa Meyer, MSN, RN, NE-BC, the goal is to remove low-value work from high-value nursing and provider assets. By seamlessly integrating with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems and other technology investments, Edgility brings together vital data and provides patient prioritization watchlists to route critical lab alerts and manage logistical tasks associated with a discharge process.

Third place: goNurse is a mobile health (mHealth) remote patient monitoring application created by Suzanne Richardson, MSN, RN, and Laurie Eccleston, MPA, RN. This innovation started with a vision of designing a digital health solution to support high-risk patients beyond the walls of the hospital, improve clinical outcomes, and avoid costly readmissions. The design of the application includes customizable branching logic to enhance clinical assessments, results reporting, and interactive patient visual and auditory cueing. Another feature is EHR integration, which allows for abnormal result notifications and monitoring of trends to improve patient adherence and individualize care management. goNurse is a sophisticated mHealth application that combines a digital product and proven program for an all-in-one solution.