AGFA Competition Reflection

AGFA challenge

On Friday, November 12^th I received a letter from Greg Overholt that began with the following:

Hi Michael, (apologies if you have gotten this email twice),

Your submission has officially been selected as one of the 5 finalist in the 2010 AGFA Healthcare Innovation Challenge! The judges were very impressed by your submission and on behalf of SOS, AGFA HealthCare, and the event sponsors, we’d like to invite you to compete in the finalist weekend taking place next weekend in Waterloo, Ontario (Friday, November 19th to Sunday, November 21^st).

I was completely dumbfounded in shock. When submitting my proposal, I had originally never imagined winning first place. But perhaps with a bit of luck and great help from the K-NET staff, I was off to Waterloo to compete against 5 other great teams for the top prize of a $3000 scholarship and a flight to Belgium, or a summer job with AGFA.

So on Wednesday, I travelled from Fort Severn to Sioux Lookout, and then on the Thursday from Sioux Lookout to Thunder Bay, then to Toronto Island Airport. I was happy to see my parents for the first time in months, but I had to spend time preparing for competition. Friday came, and I was whisked away to the Waterloo Inn (a beautiful hotel). The first night we had the opportunity to sit down with a group of mentors after the introductory dinner to help refine my proposal. With the help of Morgan Seele from AGFA, Sasan Adibi from RIM, Gary Higgs from St. Mary’s Hospital, and Michele Campbell from Sunlife Financial, I received amazing feedback that helped me sculpt my written proposal into a Powerpoint presentation.

The next day, it was zero hour. With judges who were leaders in the healthcare and IT industry watching and critiquing each of the presentations, I was extremely nervous. Other presentations from Waterloo, Brock and Laurier were spectacular, incorporating concepts of cloud computing and social networking between patients and health care workers. When it was my turn to present, I spoke from experience – from both my travels to the different communities as well as my interactions with community members. When I finished, I was glad to see the interest generated in the north by the judge’s questions. As I returned to my seat, it was tough to sit still through the adrenaline still pumping through my body.

When the prizes were announced later that evening, it was nerve-racking to hear the results from last to first. When I got selected as the winner, I was in shock. I never imagined winning first place. As I was sitting down waiting for my turn to present, I was in awe of the in-depth proposals that came from other universities such as Waterloo and Brock. But one thing that remained constant was my desire to fairly portray the communities that I had been working for the past two months. After I presented and the Q and A period arrived, it was difficult to paint the whole picture, to tell them that communities weren’t just places with an overly high prevalence of diabetes mellitus, or a lack of bandwidth. Instead, it was place where many bright individuals and ideas came from. As only a visitor to the north, I have a very limited perspective of the struggles of both being a native and living in a rural and remote environment. I can only describe and provide my opinion and experiences, but I feel that the best answers are given and should be presented from the community level.

Overall, it was a great learning experience from AGFA. Not only did I make friends from other universities, but also I got extremely valuable feedback that could help shape DiabeTEXTs into a plausible, effective solution for the North in the near future. In addition, it helped promote attention to the communities and hopefully with the connections I made at this competition, we can look forward to positive and sustainable partnerships with Ehealth, financial, and IT organizations in the future.

The Slideshow

Health care text-messaging system wins Agfa challenge

from: http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/817276

By Brent Davis, Record staff

Victoria Freeman, For The Record

Michael Mak, second from left, received the Agfa HealthCare Institute eHealth Innovation Challenge award on Saturday. The award was presented by Jeff Nesbitt of Agfa HealthCare in Canada, Lysa Taylor-Kinch of Sun Life Financial, and Chris Labrador of Research In Motion.

WATERLOO — In today’s technology-driven society, broadband internet access and 3G and 4G cellular networks are often taken for granted.

But there are plenty of places in Canada where even reliable internet service is considered a perk.

That’s why Michael Mak’s winning submission to this year’s Agfa HealthCare Innovation Challenge is refreshing in its relative simplicity: using SMS text messages sent by cell phone for patient education and communication in remote locations. Award presentations took place this weekend in Waterloo, home to Agfa HealthCare’s primary North American research and development site.

Mak, a 20-year-old McMaster University student, is already putting his idea to the test in northwestern Ontario during a learning placement.

The third-year health sciences student is working with a First Nations telecommunications provider in communities like Fort Severn to equip diabetes workers with cell phones and a computer software program so they can create text messages and send them to multiple patients. The system could allow patients to do such things as book appointments while receiving educational information and daily reminders from health care workers.

Simple cell phone and text-messaging use is fairly widespread in aboriginal communities, especially among the youth, Mak said.

“Working with the First Nations … they are a culture that teaches to use and maximize what they have,” he said. His proposal “is just built on existing systems,” he said.

Mak’s submission was among more than 60 received from across Ontario for the third-annual challenge. The top five received a trip to the finals.

“All of them really touched on access to information,” said Jeff Nesbitt, vice-president of government relations and strategic programs for Agfa HealthCare in Canada. “How to make data more accessible, how to bring health care a little closer to the patients.”

Mak’s concept “is a unique application of a technology in a rural area,” Nesbitt said.

The competition calls on post-secondary students to come up with new ideas on how to address electronic health care and health IT issues in Canada. Students aren’t constrained by traditional boundaries, Nesbitt said. “It allows us to step outside the box.”

And winning ideas could very well have real-world applications. Agfa patented the first winner’s concept for an anti-coagulant management system, and Nesbitt predicted that Mak has a bright future as well.

“I see a huge opportunity here for Michael,” he said. “I think if we don’t pick him up, somebody else will.”

Mak receives a $3,000 scholarship and summer employment at Agfa, along with a BlackBerry Torch from sponsor RIM and other perks.

Mak said he hopes the experience will help guide him to a career “building a healthier Canada for those who might not always be on the radar.”

Agfa HealthCare Awards McMaster University's Michael Mak for Innovation in eHealth

from: http://media.knet.ca/node/10856

Agfa HealthCare Awards McMaster University's Michael Mak for Innovation in eHealth

Texting the way to better health in indigenous communities

from: http://www.moodle.org/0.8771905879079179

by Matt Terry
November 24, 2010

Michael Mak wants to help diabetes sufferers in Canada's First Nations communities better cope with the disease - so he's sending them text messages.

Currently working in the northwestern Ontario town of Sioux Lookout, where he is helping the Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a non-political chiefs council, develop IT resources with First Nation partners, Mak, a third-year health sciences student, has seen the devastating effects diabetes has on patients in indigenous communities. He has also experienced the frustrating lack of internet connectivity in those same communities - a problem which can keep aboriginal patients from easily accessing information on how to live with diabetes.

To bridge the gap between knowledge and technology, Mak decided to harness the power of the cell phone, which is more common in indigenous communities than high speed internet. By utilizing an SMS text messaging system that allows health care workers to communicate with patients who suffer from diabetes, Mak feels the standard of living for those living with the disease would improve.

"We focus so much on ensuring that the quality of Canadian health care is high, but health care in First Nations communities is completely off the radar," said Mak. "This sort of technology can help connect those living with diabetes with health care professionals who can help them better understand how to treat the disease."

His system, DiabeTEXTs, is currently being piloted in a number of northern Ontario First Nations communities, where diabetes workers are now armed with cell phones and a computer software program that allows them to send text message reminders and health tips to patients and, one day, could allow patients to schedule their own appointments or ask specific questions.

"I learned about some of the major issues facing Canada's First Nations communities in an elective course I took, and I became very concerned," said Mak. "By working in this area I really hope to challenge students to better understand those issues and develop ways to solve them."

Mak's idea recently made him the first McMaster student to win the Agfa HealthCare Innovation Challenge, which this year asked students to come up with a solution to a current challenge associated with universal access, privacy and ease of use pertaining to disease diagnosis, medical treatment and overall healthcare management.

One of more than 60 proposals from across the province, Mak's submission earned him his choice of a $3,000 scholarship or a summer job with Agfa.

Mak takes national prize

from: http://thesil.ca/blog/news/mak-takes-national-prize/

By sam colbert

MADIHA KHAN

THE SILHOUETTE

On November 22, Michael Mak, a third- year health sciences student specializing in global health, became the first McMaster University student to win the Agfa eHealth Innovation Challenge. Over 500 students from across the province registered in the month-long competition, which drew talented intellectuals from disciplines as varied as information technology, engineering and the health sciences.

“It was so exciting to be selected as the winner- and really quite unbelievable,” said Mak. “The challenge has been a really educational experience as I had the unique opportunity to work with some of the best minds in business and healthcare.”

Since its conception in the early 1900’s, Agfa HealthCare has provided cutting-edge IT solutions to Hospitals and healthcare facilities for diagnostic image management. The company is also a pioneer in the field of e-health and focuses heavily on innovation.

“New ideas and innovative solutions are the most critical elements to making eHealth a reality across Canada,” said Jeff Nesbitt, Vice President of Government Relations and Strategic Programs, Agfa HealthCare in Canada. “Hundreds of fascinating and thought provoking ideas were presented to the committee and choosing only one winner was the most difficult part of the event”.

The annual Agfa eHealth Innovation Challenge was created to provide Ontario Students with an opportunity to facilitate improvements in quality of patient care, support the continuation and growth of Canada’s Health Informatics industry, and drive the advancement of healthcare IT solutions.

“We focus so much on ensuring that the quality of Canadian health care is high, but health care in First Nations communities is completely off the radar,” said Mak, who is all too familiar with the devastating effects of diabetes in indigenous communities. His current work in the north-western Ontario town of Sioux Lookout with the Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a non-political chiefs council, has shown him that aboriginal patients have inadequate access to health care, partly due to the frustrating lack of internet connectivity.

Mak realized that cell phones were more common than high speed internet in most native communities, so he decided to use this fact to the community’s advantage. By utilizing an SMS text messaging system that allows health care workers to communicate with patients who suffer from diabetes, Mak feels the standard of living for diabetic patients will improve significantly.

“This sort of technology can help connect diabetics with health care professionals who can help them better understand how to treat the disease,” he explained.

Mak’s system, DiabeTEXTs, is currently being piloted in a number of northern Ontario First Nations communities, and there are talks with companies like Research in Motion and Agfa HealthCare to develop the project further.

When asked what advice he would give to other McMaster student’s that wanted to make a difference at the grass-roots level using technology, Mak replied, “one needs to: a) be introduced to the relevant concepts in the classroom; b) be willing to spend time with the community in question in order to more effectively understand the local challenges and current solutions; c) identify the community champions who are willing to spend time with you to make a change; and of course, d) be able to communicate in a culturally competent and respectful manner throughout the entire process.”

Mak went on to express gratitude to McMaster University for providing him opportunities for to work with communities through the fourth-month placement feature of his program.

“I feel very lucky to have come to McMaster straight after high school, and to have met individuals like Professor Hayden King,” he said.

Agfa HealthCare Institute Recognizes McMaster Student for Innovation in eHealth

McMaster student uses cell phones to support isolated diabetes patients

Student develops system to help diabetics in remote communities