Hackathon brings app designers together to develop health-care solutions

Hackers descended upon the Southeast Missouri State University campus where more than $50,000 in cash prizes were awarded over the weekend at the 2019 Healthcare Hackathon.

The event, hosted in partnership with Saint Francis Healthcare System and the Marquette Tech District Foundation, attracted 125 participants from eight states and aimed to encourage collaborative problem-solving using technology.

“We have lots of problems in health care, and I think this event will not only benefit Cape Girardeau, but our region and our nation,” Saint Francis Healthcare System president and chief executive officer Maryann Reese said. “Google ‘hackathon’ and you see Yale, MIT, New York City. Now, you’ll see Cape Girardeau.”

Ashwin Kumar, center, poses for a photo with Saint Francis Healthcare System president and chief executive officer Maryann Reese and Marquette Tech District Foundation programs director Chris Carnell after winning first place in the 2019 Healthcare Hackathon on Sunday at Glenn Auditorium in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Ashwin Kumar took home the first-place prize of $30,000 for his app allowing health-care providers to remotely monitor patients’ progress by allowing patients to photograph their wounds on a daily basis, which an AI algorithm can analyze to monitor throughout the healing process to determine whether the patient needs to come in for a visit.

Kumar said he received great feedback from Saint Francis advisers during the hackathon, and believes partnerships and collaboration are key to getting a product to market — especially in a rural market such as Southeast Missouri.

“There are some additional factors, such as the distance for patients to travel to the nearest provider, and how comfortable patients and providers are with using and trusting technology,” Kumar said. “The increasing burden on health-care systems to provide care for an increasing population of patients means useful technology solutions are even more valuable.”

From left, Marquette Tech District Foundation programs director Chris Carnell and Saint Francis Healthcare System president and chief executive officer Maryann Reese pose for a photo with second-place winners Steve Thijssen, Arjen van Gaal and Aschwin Voermans at the 2019 Healthcare Hackathon on Sunday at Glenn Auditorium in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Steve Thijssen, Arjen van Gaal and Aschwin Voermans traveled more than 35 hours from the Netherlands to compete in the hackathon and won the second place prize of $15,000 with their AVy app, which helps remind patients to take medications.

A team comprised of St. Louis and Cape Girardeau residents won the third-place prize of $5,000 for a medication adherence system.

“The hope is that we can continue to have an annual type of event like this with Saint Francis, but also do this type of event with other organizations throughout the region,” Marquette Tech District Foundation program director Chris Carnell said. “There’s no reason we couldn’t have multiple hackathons throughout the year that were building technology throughout Southeast Missouri — really cool technology in Southeast Missouri at that.”