The healthcare innovation competition UniStart vol 2, organized for students of the School of Medicine, the Faculty of Economics, and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FESB) of the University of Split, has concluded. The program was held on November 8 and 9, 2024, at the School of Medicine in Split, where students worked over two days to design solutions for a real-world healthcare challenge using a design thinking approach.
The first day began with the presentation of the challenge: the user experience of companions at the emergency hospital reception. Students were introduced to the program by Mihaela Papić from the NetHub Accelerator, who also guided them through all the key steps of design thinking. In the introductory part, students heard interviews with a doctor, a nurse, and patients, who shared their daily experiences and perspectives on the challenges in the emergency department. Through brainstorming, they identified the main problems, after which they were divided into teams and prepared for the second day, when they would practice their pitches and present their solutions to an expert jury.
The second day was marked by the Demo Day, where students had to pitch their ideas to members of the expert jury consisting of Marko Mimica (NetHub Accelerator), Josip Krnić (Head of the Unified Emergency Hospital Reception (KBC Split)), Silvestar Šesnić (Vice-Dean for Science at FESB Split), and Anzelina Terzić (representative of the sponsor Terzić d.o.o.). With enthusiasm and excellently prepared presentations, the students pitched solutions aimed at improving the companion user experience and relieving the burden on the emergency department.
First place was won by the Wait-Mate team, which designed an idea for installing interactive screens in emergency waiting rooms. The screens would display the number of people in the waiting room and the estimated waiting time for all triage categories in real-time, reducing the perception of long waits and increasing patient awareness.
Second place went to the Chatbot Zdravko team, which developed an application concept for patient support, enabling a conversation with a chatbot to reduce the perception of waiting, making the overall process less stressful. Third place was taken by the MedLink team, whose main goal was to educate the public on the operation of emergency services and triage categories through a mobile application. Educational materials available on the app would better inform citizens about on-duty clinic options for non-emergency cases, further relieving healthcare professionals.
Jury member Josip Krnić, Head of the Emergency Department (OHBP), expressed great satisfaction with such initiatives:
“This is my first time as a jury member in such a student gathering. As the head of OHBP and someone who faces the challenges of emergency work daily, I strongly support these initiatives that bring together students from different disciplines. Society lacks multidisciplinarity, especially in today’s era of AI and computing development. I hope students continue with these ideas and inspire older generations to collaborate for the benefit of our hospital and city.”
Anzelina Terzić, representing Terzić d.o.o., the project sponsor, praised the students’ engagement and emphasized the importance of supporting such programs:
“We have been collaborating with the University of Split for many years, and projects like this are extremely important to us as they allow direct support to the student community while confirming our commitment to socially responsible business.”
With the conclusion of this program, students were given the opportunity to develop their ideas and present them to experts. The organizers hope that such initiatives will encourage further support for young innovators. We hope that students will continue to work on their ideas through various entrepreneurial support initiatives to further develop them and contribute to improving the companion experience and relieving the emergency department.
We would like to thank all organizers and sponsors. The organizers of this health-innovation competition are NetHub, the School of Medicine in Split, University Hospital Center Split, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, and the Faculty of Economics in Split. A special contribution was made by sponsors who recognized the importance of this program – Terzić d.o.o., Algebra University, and Alca Zagreb d.o.o.
Students expressed satisfaction with the program, noting that it allowed them to gain valuable experience in solving real-world problems, connect with colleagues from other disciplines, and collaborate with industry experts.