St. Louis CAPS Student Associates Provide Solutions to Local Medical Center
St. Louis CAPS student associates in the medicine, healthcare, and bioscience course work closely with medical professionals at St. Anthony’s Mercy Medical Center. St. Anthony’s Mercy is the business partner that hosts the course within their medical center facility. At the beginning of the school year the CAPS instructor requested a list of the top 10 pain points this particular business partner would like the student associates to solve. A brief description of the pain points and students that provided the solution is listed below.
Student associates worked in collaborative teams with classmates from different high schools to research the pain point their group was assigned. The research involved setting up appointments with hospital personnel closest to the pain point to get their firsthand perspective and insights. The groups also made direct contact with the patients and personnel impacted by the pain point to hear their frustrations and get their thoughts about what they would like to see in a better solution. In addition, the student associates directly experienced the pain point by testing it out the current solution themselves. This level of research provided the student associates with the ability to create viable and realistic solutions that could be implemented immediately by the business partner.
In December, the student associates pitched their solutions to a panel of medical professionals from St. Anthony’s Mercy. Many of the solutions provided by the students will be implemented by the business partner. Examples of these solutions include a better process for registering for continuing education classes, a tracking system for certain types of hospital equipment, and updated posters that are more visually appealing and user friendly that display important information for staff and/or patients. The student associates gained valuable insight into topics that are prevalent in any medical center. They also expanded their professional network by reaching out to the staff members closest to the pain point and gathering information from them. The business partner received usable solutions with fresh perspectives. In fact, several of the medical professionals on the panel were unaware themselves of the various pain points the students investigated.
Parking Lot & Crosswalk Safety
Madison McQuilling (Mehlville), Patsy Sloan (Mehlville), Mitchell Tinkham (Oakville)
Tracking IV Pumps & Channels
Iva, Grbesa (Mehlville), Sophia Scozzari (Oakville)
Utilizing Huddle Boards for Better Staff Communication
Dalia Dzekic (Oakville), Mahira Hodzic (Mehlville), Brennenn Merritt (Mehlville)
Documentation of Patient Belongings
Jessica Roeger (Oakville), Kailey Weiskopf (Oakville)
Emergency Room Patient Care Process
Raia Hasan (Mehlville), Aldina Milak (Mehlville), Morgan Schmidt (Oakville)
EMS and Hospital Communication Process
Madison Boaz (Oakville), Olivia Coplin (Mehlville), Katie Meyer (Mehlville)
Parking Solutions Emphasis on Handicap Patients/Visitors
Taylor Light (Affton), Madelyn McClure (Oakville), Chiryame Robinson (Affton)
Patient Discharge Process
Kelly Campbell (Lafayette), Victoria Kohl (Oakville), Malahja Smith (Affton)
Registration Process for Continuing Education Classes
Mary Jasper (Oakville), Elma Karahasanovic (Affton), Nick Wheatley (Oakville)
Lost Hospital Equipment Tracking
Lydia Domagalski (Oakville), Mirela Pasic (Affton), Jessica Pierre (Affton)
