Innovation Accelerator
The Innovation Accelerator Program invites applications from across Penn Medicine for initiatives that aim to create and test innovative solutions to address challenges in cancer care.
A collaboration between the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation (PC3I) and the Penn Cancer System, the Innovation Accelerator program is a pathway for addressing challenges within the world of cancer care at Penn. Teams from across the world of cancer care at Penn Medicine suggest pain points that, if successfully addressed, would have a major positive impact on patients, care teams, and/or the health system as a whole.
If chosen, teams work side-by-side with PC3I staff to apply innovation methodologies and project management tools to the problem at hand. Together, they work towards creating, testing, and scaling solutions to real clinical opportunities within the health system.
Target Projects
We prioritize projects that have the potential to effect meaningful, positive impact for patients, clinicians and staff, and the health care system. In addition, projects should:
- Be well-defined: Great projects start with clear questions or problems.
- Be short-term: Project goals should be able to be accomplished within 6-9 months.
- Think big: Projects should have the potential to make sizeable, sustainable change within the world of cancer care at Penn, as measured in patient-related outcomes, key operational metrics, and/or financial impact.
- Need PC3I: Proposals should articulate why project management tools and innovation methodology are needed, and why the project can’t be completed without PC3I’s support.
- Be partnerships: Teams should have clinical/operational representation who will work collaboratively with PC3I.
- Have support from leadership: All projects should have support from at least one senior leader (director level or above).
Innovation Accelerator Projects
How to Apply
Applications to the PC3I Innovation Accelerator program open annually in November. Please visit this page during that time to submit your project proposal.
FAQ
Projects are chosen jointly by PC3I and leadership within cancer care at Penn.
Our team will work with you to understand your problem and its context. Together, we will explore potential opportunities and test out solutions.
We might and we might not! The best-case scenario is that we generate an effective and sustainable solution that leads to significant positive impact. But sometimes, we test out some solutions and discover that they aren’t effective. Other times, we find an effective solution, but institutional limitations prevent it from being implemented right away.
We are part of a broader innovation community within Penn, including the Center for Healthcare Information & Transformation, which runs the Innovation Accelerator Program. PC3I’s focus is on transforming care delivery within the cancer system at Penn. For our Penn Cancer Innovation Accelerator, we bring an innovation lens, project management tools, and extensive experience with clinical trials based in clinical operations.
When in doubt, apply to both! We collaborate closely to match each project with the program that’s the best fit.