We provide infrastructure that encourages creative thinking and knowledge-sharing at MGH to drive transformation.
Our Focus
We build in-house solutions or partner with outside companies to tackle front line pain points in the following areas:
Patient Engagement
Giving patients the right tools to be active in their own health
Provider Experience
Reducing administrative burden so that our providers can keep their focus on the patient rather than the paperwork—and enjoy the practice of medicine
Our Value
Working smarter to deliver quality care at a lower cost
Our crowd sourced innovation contest is an engine for systematically prioritizing pain points and supporting great ideas from across all role groups.
Our events connect students, thought leaders and frontline staff and allow for sharing of insights from across industries.
Our education sessions, innovator in residence rotations, and Aetna Foundation fellows program offer a career pathway for clinicians interested in technology innovation.
Programs and Services
Technology Advisory and Collaboration
Subject matter experts at HTL provide guidance and support on a wide range of healthcare delivery system innovation projects.
MGH is a big place. Think of us as your ‘Innovation Navigators’ – whether you are an internal innovator looking for support or an external group looking for guidance on a project.
We are also doing some pretty cool work at MGH and across the city. Transforming healthcare delivery demands genuine collaboration. No one role group or discipline holds all the answers. By partnering with technology companies, universities, and design firms, we are able to consult a variety of subject matter experts for our projects.
The Ether Dome Challenge
The Ether Dome Challenge (EDC) is an open innovation challenge designed by the Healthcare Transformation Lab in collaboration with Harvard Business School. The goal of the EDC is to engage MGH staff to think of solutions to pain points that they face daily in their work at MGH. Winning ideas are granted funding to implement their ideas, and project support from the Healthcare Transformation Lab. The Ether Dome Challenge (EDC) is an open innovation contest seeking solutions to pain points identified by front line staff at MGH. Designed by HTL and the Harvard Business School (LISH) the goals of the program are to engage staff in the ideation and selection process and to fund projects for implementation. EDC consists of four phases: Ideation, Crowd Voting, Application and Awards.
The Novelline Speaker Series
The Novelline Innovation Speaker Series invites leaders in healthcare innovation, design-thinking, and care delivery to share their experiences and lessons learned with members of the MGH community. Made possible by a generous gift from Bill and Eileen Novelline, this quarterly lecture series provides a unique opportunity for forward-thinking members of the MGH community to reflect on their own practices and reinvigorate their passion for making healthcare work better.
MGH HTL Applied Research Fellowship in Healthcare Innovation
The MGH HTL Applied Research Fellowship in Healthcare Innovation is a one year action-learning program that provide a unique opportunity for healthcare professionals interested in hands-on care delivery transformation projects to make an impact on the front lines. Fellows will spend majority of the year leading care delivery innovation projects in an academic medical center with mentorship from experts in the field as well as support from senior leadership.
