Passionate About Improving Narcotics Management in Hospitals
This pharmacy professor knows exactly where he wants to focus his innovation efforts.
Kjell H. Halvorsen from the Department of Pharmacy (IFA) was one of ten experienced researchers from the Faculty of Health Sciences (Helsefak) and the Faculty of Science and Technology (NT) who participated in the Innovation Bootcamp in mid-April.
Over the course of three days, at InnoHub in the MH building and on Sommarøya, the participants received a thorough introduction to various innovation tools and success stories from the InnoHub team and from three experienced external innovation experts.
What is an Innovation Bootcamp?
The Bootcamp is a three-day event featuring lectures, practical workshops, reflections, and work on outlining and initiating the development of participants' own innovation projects.
The goals of the Bootcamp are to:
- enable participants to recognise the innovation potential in their own research at an early stage
- foster a culture of innovation within research environments
- guide research teams in the process of turning research into applications and societal benefits
"One of the things I found most useful was hearing about projects that have progressed from idea to product, and how such processes have unfolded. It was also valuable to be introduced to various tools that can be applied in innovation processes, and not least to meet colleagues and the innovation team, all of whom have a story or idea that can serve as inspiration for my own future work," Halvorsen explains.
Medication Use Among the Elderly
Halvorsen, who has been with IFA since 2012, conducts research on patient safety and how pharmacists and other healthcare professionals can improve medication use among the elderly.
"Throughout my career, I have come across situations where I believe there is a need for a new method or product to address a challenge. Learning more about innovation processes is something I think everyone working in research and development should do."
Innovation is not unfamiliar territory for Halvorsen either. He has also been involved in innovation projects previously through his secondary position at Sykehusapotek Nord (hospital pharmacy services in Northern Norway).
"The experience from this project is that it takes time to move from problem to solution, that a multidisciplinary approach is highly valuable, and that both technical and organisational challenges must be addressed. However, I also see that we have many opportunities at IFA, and fortunately, I have several skilled colleagues who are also focused on this."
Moving Away from Manual Handling
Halvorsen is particularly keen to address a specific risk situation in hospitals. He explains that the handling of narcotic drugs is currently based on manual and time-consuming processes with a high risk of errors and deviations, and with minimal digital support.
"I envision that this can be done much better: safer for the patient, more efficient for healthcare professionals, and with significantly improved traceability and data for quality improvement."
Do you have an inner innovator trying to get out?
Then you might want to participate in the next round of bootcamping at InnoHub. Contact InnoHub leader Bernd Striberny and the rest of the innovation team at innohub@uit.no for more information.
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