HIMSS Global Patient Innovator Award

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Purpose and History

The HIMSS Global Patient Innovator Award was established to honor the legacy of Michael Seres, who suffered from Crohn’s disease and in 2020 passed away at the age of 51 from a sepsis infection. A patient advocate and entrepreneur, Michael had a long-standing affiliation with HIMSS as a HIMSS UK Advisory Board member, a HIMSS Future50 Patient Leader, and a frequent keynote speaker at conferences. He was widely considered to be one of the first and most prominent e-patients, helping design and build a digitally enhanced ostomy bag that received FDA clearance in 2014. His invention eased the suffering of millions of people with bowel injuries, chronic gut illnesses and cancer.

Read about Michael’s contributions as a patient innovator and advocate in Michael Seres: The Power of a Patient.

Watch the interview with Justine Seres, Michael's wife, on the value of placing the patient at the centre of innovation.

In memory of Michael’s ardent commitment to innovation, patient entrepreneurship and patient voice elevation, HIMSS has launched the HIMSS Global Patient Innovator Award. This award acknowledges changemakers inside and outside of healthcare who are contributing to health innovation and the creation of digitally enabled care environments to enable better outcomes for all.

The purpose of the award is to highlight the importance of patient advocates and continuous patient engagement beyond traditional healthcare settings, and to empower patients to manage their own health and wellness by working in and contributing toward digitally enabled care environments.

The award includes:

Symbol of recognition
Public announcement in an official HIMSS publication and on relevant website(s)
Opportunity to serve on the HIMSS Global Patient Innovator Award Selection Committee for two subsequent years
Opportunity to provide up to three pieces of content (i.e., podcast interview, article postings) to be showcased on HIMSS channels
Consultation with Healthbox on product, business model, fundraising and intellectual property
Opportunity to interview on Accelerate Health podcast
Seat on the HIMSS Global Consumer Task Force (launching 2021)

Eligibility and Criteria

To be eligible, nominees must demonstrate at least three of four qualities:

Bravery
- Ready for bold action, even if it requires going beyond established medical conventions
- Prepared to sit with care providers and explore solutions together
Entrepreneurship
- Determined to scale innovations and look for financing and business partnerships to enhance the patient journey and experience digitally
- Have commercialized products/solutions or otherwise disrupted healthcare with innovation
Innovation
- Ambitious and innovative in identifying ways to improve patient experience, care delivery, patient advocacy, etc.
Leadership
- Faces challenges in order to elevate the patient voice
- Inspires and encourages patients to understand their illnesses; address the open need for innovation in the field; and takes a leadership/ownership stand in the research and discovery of novel solutions to improve outcomes

To be considered, nominees cannot:

Currently serve on the HIMSS Board of Directors or any HIMSS advisory boards
Currently be employed by HIMSS, nor engaged in a consulting contract with any component of HIMSS

HIMSS Global Patient Innovator Award Selection Committee members are ineligible for nomination.

Nomination and Selection Process

Any person meeting the eligibility and criteria may be nominated. Candidates may also nominate themselves. Only completed online applications submitted by the published deadline will be considered.

The online application form requires:

Executive summary providing an overview addressing how the innovation:
- Improves patient outcomes and experience
- Enables greater access to health and care, particularly addressing vulnerable groups and underrepresented communities
- Scales to include wider populations outside country/community of origin
- Transforms health and care delivery
- Empowers patients to take control of their own health
Brief biographical sketch demonstrating how the nominee demonstrates the award qualities (bravery, entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership) and why they should be considered for the award (1,000 words or less)
Resume/curriculum vitae
One letter of recommendation provided by provider/practitioner, peer, colleague, patient or patient representative

Award recipient(s) will be selected by the Award Selection Committee.

Introducing the Award Selection Committee

Mark Duman, Chief Patient Officer, MD Healthcare Consultants, United Kingdom and HIMSS Future50 Patient Leader - Class of 2019

Dr. Kurt Höller, Director of Business Creation, EIT Health, Germany

Dr. Monika Sonu, CEO & Director New Product Development, Healthinnovationtoolbox, India and HIMSS Future50 Innovation Leader - Class of 2021

Christine Von Raesfeld, Founder/CEO, People with Empathy, USA and HIMSS Future50 Patient Leader, Class of 2021

The current Award application period is closed. We will contact all applicants towards the end of 2021. Application for next year's Award will open in June 2022.

Questions? Email us.