Archive

According to medicare.gov, home health care is defined as a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home for an illness or injury.

By 2020, the home health industry will see a 69% growth in additional jobs within the home care field. That’s 1.3 million jobs! The reason for this growth? People are seeing home health care as a need, it’s more affordable, they have a desire to age in place, and simply the convenience of it (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).

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Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) believes that collaboration in innovation is key to success. Engaging partners within Spectrum Health and externally accelerates the transformation of ideas. Through collaborative initiatives and making the right connections, several employee ideas have been able to advance.

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Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) was able to participate in the Teen Entrepreneurship Summer Academy (TESA) this year. “We participate in several community events and activities each year. This one is one of my favorites and I look forward to it every year. What the students come up with in one week is truly amazing.” Says Lori Henry.

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Today, schools offer a variety of classes to high school students that help prepare them for a future career. The Kent Intermediate School District (Kent ISD) goes beyond just offering certain classes to students. In one particular class, Kent Innovation High School integrates project based learning into their senior level English course that students are already required to take.

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After months of planning and preparation, the MWest Challenge has finally come to a close. It was truly a unique collaboration between Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at Grand Valley State University, West Michigan College and Universities Group, and Spectrum Health Innovations.

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Community relationships and partnerships have always been an important aspect of Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI). SHI works closely with high school students interested in health care. The Health Sciences Early College Academy is one example of SHI’s partnerships with Kent ISD.

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Do you think like an entrepreneur, hope to own your business one day, or maybe you are curious what that journey looks like?

If so, the MWest Showcase event is a must attend for you!  As part of this year’s MWest Business Plan competition, Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) is sponsoring the MWest Showcase event the evening before with keynote speaker Craig Dubitsky.

Mark your calendars, and RSVP today!

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Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) actively supports and encourages student entrepreneurship through working with students on development of projects and supporting them as they prepare for business plan competitions.

SHI is once again actively supporting and sponsoring the CMU New Venture competition. This year two student teams that will be presenting SH employee ideas: the thermal bra and auto-med flusher at the competition.

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Attention MWest Entrepreneurs and Students!

Attend the MWest Challenge Innovation Showcase on April 20th, 2017 from 5p.m.-7:30p.m.

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What do you think about when you hear Groundhog Day? It’s probably the furry weather expert Punxsutawney Phil.

For Kent Intermediate School District, it’s the opportunity for high school students to job shadow with companies all over Kent County.

With over 700 job shadows, the possibilities were endless for students and Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) was delighted to participate!

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The most essential part of a sonographers work? Their hands and the tools they use. Without either of these, the work they deliver isn’t up to par.

Medical diagnostic sonographers provide medical professionals the data used to assist in the diagnosis of diseases. Medical professionals highly depend on their images to make accurate diagnoses. Paige Rowland, BS, CNMT, RVT, RDCS, CIIP, regional supervisor, echo/vascular, Spectrum Health employee, understands the importance of the work performed by the sonographers and is continuously seeking innovative ways to improve the tools sonographers are using.

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The numbers are astounding: every year, more than 7.5 million people go to a doctor’s office for shoulder pain, upper arm sprains and strains. James R. Lebolt, DO, section chief and orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine, Spectrum Health Medical Group, sees more than a few hundred such patients annually for these types of complaints.

The most commonly used shoulder braces currently prescribed offer stability in the shoulder area , but their design, Dr. Lebolt says, has changed little since the 1980s and 1990s, when the braces were first made.

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Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI) is thrilled to be partnering with Grand Valley State University (GVSU) once again. As a university that is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, SHI is looking forward to another semester with both business and engineering students in helping better our patient experiences.

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Exciting projects are in the works with students from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) and Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI). Spectrum Health Innovations is thrilled to be partnering with KCAD for the third year in a row. Students from interior design, industrial design, photography, and digital media will have the pleasure of working with Spectrum Health medical professionals and Spectrum Health Innovations. For KCAD students, this will be an exceptionally busy year.Continue Reading

Not that long ago, the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Innovation project was featured by local media outlet, WOODTV: Hospital room changes could help epilepsy patients.

Today, Spectrum Health Innovations and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD) continue to work together on furthering the development of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit Human Centered Design Room and spreading the word of the collaboration.

Check out the full feature story in the Ferris State University on-line magazine.

Joseph Ross, Physical Therapist, Spectrum Health Center for Acute Rehabilitation, had an idea on how to make loading a wheelchair into an automobile trunk easier. He talked with Scott Daigger, manager, innovation and entrepreneurship, Spectrum Health Innovations. He explained how he had created the idea for a patient’s mother who was in her 60s and struggling with loading her wheelchair into her car. “I stayed after work that day and experimented with a crutch, using it as a lever,” Ross says. He demonstrated the maneuver to Daigger. He lifted the chair using the crutch into the trunk with much less effort than expected.

“It was amazing when I had Joe show me his idea,” Daigger says. “However, the crutch wasn’t the optimal tool to use. We decided to work with Hope College’s Center for Faithful Leadership and their student team to design a better, more convenient lever.”

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Why not solve a problem before it happens? It’s called preventive care. Spectrum Health’s Center For Joint Replacement has already earned a reputation for knee replacement procedures with results that rank among the best in the United States. We are the only program in West Michigan that has earned Disease-Specific Care Certification for joint replacement surgery from The Joint Commission, the nation’s leading health care accrediting organization. It would be easy to leave well enough alone, but even excellence has room for improvement. A group of Grand Valley State University students, under the tutelage of Dr. John Farris, and Spectrum Health Innovations came together to pave the way to a new kind of learning experience.

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Spectrum Health Innovations is so excited to have this opportunity to share with you all of the great things going on with regards to innovations within health care. It is our desire to tap into the entrepreneurial, innovative spirit and build a meaningful relationship with you. Recognizing that innovation has so many moving parts and involves so many people, we thought a video might be the best way to share our part in this eco-system. Watch the video below and Contact Us for more information.

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Given the choice, few patients choose to stay any longer than required at a hospital or long-term care facility. A growing number of patients choose home as the place to not only live but also the place to heal. The reasons are many, with comfort usually being the first. Home care can reduce costs for both the hospital and the patient. Home care often also reduces the risk of patients contracting infectious diseases. Home care does not, however, come without its challenges.

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When young students come from a life of relative privilege, their task is to learn empathy and understanding of the challenges of living in poverty. At Spectrum Health Innovations (SHI), we pride ourselves on our work with the bright young minds of area students. While much of our collaboration is with local college and university students, at the GVSU Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy (TESA), we work with high school students who range in age from 13 to 18.

TESA is a five-day academy that brings together students from across Michigan. Student teams develop business ideas into finished concepts that, on the final day of the academy, are presented to a panel of local business professionals, competing for monetary prizes. The 2016 TESA student teams addressed the lack of access to health care and how it impacts the health and wellness of low-income families and individuals who live in poverty. Thirty-six students participated from 23 West Michigan high schools.

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