More than seventy-five technologists were brought together by MetLife, a
leading global life insurance and employee benefits company, to develop
innovative solutions to improve the coordination of health care for U.S.
military veterans. MetLife tackled the issue, which the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) has faced for years, by hosting a
first-of-its-kind, 32-hour “TechJam” on November 1 and 2 at the Research
Triangle Park Headquarters in North Carolina. The event challenged
participants to develop a robust Electronic Health Record solution in
support of VA’s mission to serve veterans, service members, and their
families. Through facilitation by MetLife, participants made their
solutions available publicly through open source code.
From 10 participating teams, a panel of expert judges selected the
following winners:
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Overall winner: Infusion (Stephen Jakisa, Peter Newhook,
Matt Pavelko, Noah Santorello)
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Individual category winners:
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Data integration and augmentation: Awesome Nighthawks
(Hunter Enoch, Scott Ilkenhons, Noah Morgan, Christian Matson)
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User experience: DB Global Technology Cary
(Venkatavasishta Chemudupati, Sarah Kahn, Nick Mason, James
Pujals, Aditya Samant, Vish Sonagara)
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Predictive analysis: Islington Green (James Dixon,
Ian Cillay, David Green, Ian Henshaw)
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Mobile: vCare (Srinivasa Raaghavan Ramanuja
Seshaadri, Sumit Bhattacharjee Bhattacharjee, Indranath
Bhattacharya, Sushil Sahoo, Anirban Banerjee, Bhartarshabh Katiyar)
The challenge for the MetLife TechJam originated from the tremendous
volume of veteran medical data and records typically spread between
different physicians and across VA’s 1,500 facilities. Blue Button, a
program that provides veteran health information in a simple text file,
allows veterans to download their personal health information from their
My HealtheVet account. In an effort to improve upon the current system,
MetLife and VA drew inspiration from the MetLife Wall, a MongoDB-based
application that brings together customer data from more than 70 systems.
“MetLife is dedicated to innovative approaches to technology solutions,
and we believe that the data-driven solutions created at the TechJam
will deliver invaluable benefits to veterans and others,” said Gary
Hoberman, MetLife CIO and SVP of Regional Application Development. “We
are proud to have brought together some of the brightest minds in
technology to help facilitate faster and easier sharing of vital health
information, enable coordinated care and ultimately better the lives of
our nation’s veterans.”
Similar to the challenges facing the broader U.S. health care system, VA
has been challenged by the fragmented nature across its health system.
Ensuring the streamlined coordination of care has been heralded by many
as a promising way to improve health outcomes for patients, especially
those with chronic conditions. It is believed that as many as 80 percent
of Americans 65 and older – a group that represents an estimated 44
percent of all veterans today – suffer from at least one chronic
condition and almost 50 percent have multiple chronic illnesses. Many
patients with chronic illnesses see multiple physicians to help manage
their condition, which further necessitates care coordination.
“The ideas and technologies that emerged out of the TechJam are a
tremendous advancement into our ongoing efforts to improve veteran data
management,” said Joe Paiva, Chief Technology Strategist, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs. “Veterans need a system that can help
them be informed, active participants in their medical care. In order to
achieve this, veterans need a system that helps break down the silos
that can hinder them from receiving the most comprehensive and
coordinated care possible. Few companies have been able to offer a
solution that takes into account the complexity of the VA system, so we
are thrilled at the opportunity to enhance our veterans’ lives with this
technology. These solutions will be revolutionary for both medical
providers who serve our vets and veterans themselves.”
The panel of TechJam judges included:
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Joe Paiva, Chief Technology Strategist, Department of Veterans Affairs
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Harold Kudler, MD, Associate Director – Clinical, Department of
Veterans Affairs
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Marty Lippert, EVP, Head of Global Technology & Operations, MetLife
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Gary Hoberman, Senior Vice President and CIO of Regional Application
Development, MetLife
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Charles Coleman, Senior Executive, IBM
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Brian Harry, Technical Fellow, Microsoft
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Gregory Hopper, Office of the CTO - Strategic Planning Team, NetApp,
and Adjunct Professor, Duke University
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Dennis Kekas, Associate Vice Chancellor, North Carolina State
University
MetLife was supported in organizing the event by several partner
organizations, including Microsoft, Infusion, and MongoDB. Partner
companies provided the software and technology to power the competition
and development of solutions. They also served as on-site mentors who
assisted and collaborated with competitors throughout the event. Another
partner, Veracode, will be providing a second chance prize for most
secure solution in the coming weeks. The MetLife TechJam brought
together talent from local universities and tech companies, including
IBM, DB Global Technology, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, and
Duke University.
The MetLife TechJam kicked off as MetLife broke ground on its new global
technology hub in Cary, N.C. MetLife’s move to North Carolina is
projected to create a combined 2,600 jobs in Cary and Charlotte by the
end of 2015.
For more information about MetLife Global Technology & Operations,
including job opportunities, visit www.metlifegto.com.
MetLife GTO is on Twitter. Follow @ML_TechandOps at https://twitter.com/ML_TechandOps.
About MetLife
MetLife, Inc. is a leading global provider of insurance, annuities and
employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers. Through its
subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in
the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle
East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2013