“It’s all about innovation and cures,” said Robin Deterding, MD, Medical Director for the Children’s Hospital Colorado Center for Innovation, in her November 9 Chamber Health Series presentation held at Children’s Hospital.

“We can do the same things better – and that’s iteration; we can do new things – and that’s innovation; and we can do new things that make the old ones obsolete – and that’s disruption,” said Dr. Deterding. She talked about how everything – including medicine – is being disrupted because of innovations, and so, in line with their mission of clinical care, education, research, advocacy, and innovation, Children’s Hospital started its Center for Innovation in June 2016.

Dr. Deterding went on to give examples of how medicine is being changed by technology, including body sensor devices which can be used to more efficiently monitor what’s happening with a patient. The patient can be anywhere, and medical information about a variety of important health-related issues can be transmitted from the device to the physician’s phone or computer – in real time. “This use of technology can save lives – as well as time and money,” she added.

Another way that innovation can be used in medicine is to simplify the documentation process. Currently, patient documentation can take up to 50 percent of a health care provider’s time, which is time spent in front of a computer instead of with a patient. With the introduction of digital scribes, which records the information and then converts it to a patient record form, the providers aren’t glued to their computers for data input – and it’s also a solution for physician burn-out caused by too much paperwork.

According to Dr. Deterding, in the next five to 10 years, regenerative medicine will “disrupt” and completely change how transplants, skin grafts and many other medical procedures involving organs will be done.  We need to change how we think about care, and we need to get ready for change – especially in the area of pediatrics, she emphasized.

The Center supports innovations for improving pediatric healthcare. These include drugs, medical devices, digital health and healthcare innovations, for which the Center provides a holistic suite of educational and support resources from ideation through to launch.

Robin Deterding, MD