CoxHealth adds GO CAPS component to Innovation Accelerator

For its third-annual Innovation Accelerator, CoxHealth is engaging students in the brainstorming process.

Two teams of students from the Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies will work alongside CoxHealth employees, executives and board members. The accelerator allows employees to submit growth ideas for CoxHealth; the winning suggestion is typically implemented systemwide, according to a news release.

“We love this event, because it brings great ideas to light that can really benefit our organization,” said Scott Rogers, CoxHealth’s system director for performance integration and innovation, in the release. “This initiative allows employees’ ideas to become the next ‘big things.’”

During the Innovation Accelerator today at The eFactory, 50 CoxHealth employees will have one minute each to present their ideas. The participants then will break into teams to develop five to seven of the best ideas. They’ll be aided by business coaches Rob Fulp, Dennis Heim, Kurt Hellweg and Bob McDowell, who are CoxHealth board members.

Later this afternoon, the groups will present the ideas to CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards, Chief Financial Officer Jack McWay, Community Hospital Group Vice President Darren Bass and Marketing and Corporate Communications Vice President Jann Holland. Joining them will be CoxHealth board members Sally Hargis and Jack Prim, according to the release.

Last year, the winning idea involved streamlining the registration process for telehealth technology, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. In 2016, the winning idea was to offer delivery service to health system employees through the CoxHealth Pharmacy.