I recently signed on as an advisor to a group of George Washington University students who are organizing a medical and assistive device hackathon on March 24-25, 2018, in downtown DC. Check it out if you live nearby! In pulling together resources for them, I found the memo I sent to senior leaders across the Department […]
key people
Letter to shareholders
For tax purposes, I recently added up all the various sources of income I’d received in 2017. It was a real hodge-podge of a year since I left my appointment at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and started working on my own projects again. This exercise brought home the lesson that […]
Unrest
The film “Unrest” will debut on Independent Lens this week (check your local listings — in the DC area it will air on Jan. 12 at 10:30pm on WETA). I couldn’t wait and bought my own digital copy on Amazon. Let me just say: It’s no surprise that it’s on the short list for an Academy […]
Re-imagining care for hospitalized kids
On Nov. 1-2, 2017, Hope for Henry convened a diverse group of parents, kids, clinicians, designers, educators, and entrepreneurs to reimagine care for hospitalized kids. I’ll disclose that I am an advisor to Hope for Henry and helped organize the event, but I hope you’ll believe me when I say that it was, objectively, a […]
DIY innovation in the hospital
My grandfather, Frank H.J. Figge, was a cancer researcher who faced shortages during World War II and had to improvise to keep his lab going. When he ran short of quartz lenses he remembered hearing that plastic also transmits ultraviolet rays and filled synthetic sausage casings with water to create a perfect — much cheaper — substitute. Nurses have […]
Nurses in the Smithsonian spotlight
The people best suited to solve a problem are often those experiencing it. Experimentation — and documentation — should be part of everyone’s toolbox, no matter where you sit in an organization or hierarchy. Prototypes should be shared, not hidden away. Early feedback is golden. Everyone is a potential innovator. I’m excited to explore these themes and more with Tiffany […]
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