#health2dev Code-A-Thon – I am the tofu to the hotsauce

Obligatory hotsauce shot, hotsauce courtesy @avairs

I think I am like tofu when it comes to innovation, I take on the flavor of whatever is around me. If I meet and work with people who are passionate about anything, I tend to pick up their passion, because I feel that passion should never be wasted.

With that in mind, I excitedly transported myself (using an innovation in that area, Capital Bikeshare ( @bikeshare ), see photo below) back to the Center for Total Health (@kptotalhealth) for the last event of DC Health Innovation Week, the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge Code-a-Thon.

Last time, I was embedded in a team and picked up the passion of my teammates in the area of relevant peer comparisons and personal health record data. This time, I was more “emeritus” in my approach because I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay the whole day.

This time, Regina Holliday (@reginaholliday) also came to paint, and for the first time I watched her perform her art (or is it practice her talent?). Have you ever watched her paint? Her hands are steady, she is directed, she is quick. She talks to you while she’s painting and brings anyone who walks by into the work. She doesn’t seem to worry about having her flow interrupted. I was reflecting on what I saw and it felt like watching someone who is good at what they do, loves what they do, and brings the world into what they do. And that feels exactly like…the feeling I get when I am around a physician or nurse who love what they do and are good at what they do – you are drawn to these people and you like having them around you.

Yair Rajwan, DSc, FNLM (@visualmatics) stopped by and gave me great news, which is that the innovation we worked on at the last code-a-thon, BlueMeter, has come to life and is living! He is also having an experience as a caregiver interacting with the health system that he or any patient or family member should not be having. Fueling the passion, growing strong at the broken places.

While the coding was going on, I was having a wonderful conversation with Gregg Masters (@2healthguru), Jen Dyer, MD, MPH (@endogoddess), Phil Baumann (@philbaumann), Cristian Liu (@cristianliu) was also present. Got to watch everyone meet for the first time, which is like the superglue in the social network, and as they warmed me up (I admit I was feeling a little behind on things), I began to pick up their passion, like the tofu that I am.

I couldn’t stay for the whole day so I don’t know which team(s) won. It was Washington, DC’s annual celebration of the lesbian gay bisexual transgender community, Capital Pride (@capitalpride), the 3rd largest in the nation. There was a recurring blending of diversity and technology/innovation events throughout the week, which flowed over each other, such as the #healthapps and #NPLunch11 events. I think you can’t have one without the other, innovation and diversity, which is why I will always seek out both, and work proudly with organizations who do the same, which includes Health 2.0 and Kaiser Permanente.

Photos from the Code-A-Thon are below, click to enlarge, feel free to use any. Thanks again to the Health 2.0 (@health2con) team for another one of those you-look-up-at-the-clock-and-the-day-has-flown-by days.

Ted Eytan, MD