Digital Technology Innovation Program
Addressing healthcare challenges with digital solution creation, validation, dissemination, and implementation
We, at the Digital Technology Innovation (DTI) Program, evaluate and advance knowledge around the rapidly growing area of digital health and digital transformation, broadly defined as the use of technology to improve health and wellness. Digital health technologies cover a gamut of solutions such as wearable devices, a range of sensors, virtual reality, mobile health apps, patient-reported data, smartphone-connected devices (e.g., incentive spirometry, blood glucose monitors), and supporting technology platforms including algorithms that provide predictive or prescriptive treatments.
Despite their promise, approximately 70% percent of complex, large-scale digital health programs are unable to meet their pre-set goals. Much of this is because of factors such as suboptimal strategies to leverage technology in an integrated way, inadequate collaboration between IT and lines of business, lack of expertise to lead digitization initiatives, rising costs/limited budget, suboptimal design and/or poor user experience, or the inability to experiment quickly and iterate on solutions.
The DTI unit recognizes that digital health applications are disruptive and rapidly transforming a wide range of today’s practice of medicine and healthcare interactions. The study of digital health has a core tenet of addressing the “digital divide” and having an equity lens in terms of access to and adoption of these technologies, including in rural or under-resourced settings.
DTI People
DTI Leadership
- Scientific Director, Genevieve Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD
- Digital Integration Lead, Rubina F. Rizvi, MD, PhD
DTI Core Member
- Project Manager, Matt Loth, PhD
DTI Recent News
Leveraging Digital Capabilities to Decrease Maternal Morbidity and Mortality. Sammy Thatipelli, a medical student who is engaged in DTI's work, received a grant from the University of Minnesota Foundation to gather and evaluate patient feedback on a remote blood pressure monitoring program to better control postpartum hypertension.
Novel Digital Solution "Q-Rounds" Enables Transparent Rounding. A poster describing Q-round's pilot implementation and feasibility assessment supported by DTI and CLHSS at M Health Fairview Children's Hospital received an award at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2023 National Meeting.
Transforming Postoperative Home-Based Care with Digital Solutions through a Patient Safety Learning Laboratory. A 4-year grant was recently awarded from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to develop solutions with a focus on digital capabilities useful to patients and care teams that improve the outcomes of emergency laparotomy patients during their home-based recovery. The project, titled "Re-engineering Surgical Recovery and Transitions Using Technology Patient Safety Learning Laboratory (REST-PSLL)", launched September 2023.
Funded Projects
REST-PSLL
Through REST-PSLL, we are designing technology-based solutions to improve the outcomes of emergency laparotomy patients during their home-based recovery.