Lightning Lab

In the on-campus program's Health Services Organization & Policy course, students periodically engage in an in-class activity known as "Lightning Lab."

This activity challenges students to exercise creative thinking and problem solving skills in a short period of time, requiring bursts of innovation to address varied problems or scenarios.  In short, students are challenged to catch that one idea that could be lightning in a bottle, often in less than one hour.

The most recent Lightning Lab activity had students working together in groups to devise innovative technological solutions to current issues surrounding health care organizations.  In the days leading up to class, students were encouraged to be thinking about possible innovative ideas incorporating health care technology to some degree.  During class, students were divided into groups, and group members shared their different ideas and eventually developed a more thought-out proposal.  Groups then pitched their ideas to their classmates, with proposals that incorporated RFID technology, mHealth apps, and personal health records, among others.

The Lightning Lab exercise is also slightly competitive in nature, with students voting to identify the idea they like best once all groups made their respective pitches.  After two runoff votes, the winning group was identified (with their concept centered on utilizing health information technology through a medical tourism service, called Sky Health), claiming their prizes of fruit snacks, chocolate-covered pretzels, and gummy bears.  Congratulations Sky Health team!