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A Charlotte-based company known for helping everyday inventors take their big ideas mainstream has partnered with the region's largest hospital system in hopes of saving lives, rather than just making life easier.
One of Edison Nation's big success stories - with more than 1 million sold - is a plastic bowl that swivels and gyrates, rather than spilling its contents. The company collects ideas from people online, turns them into household hits and splits the royalties with the inventor. Edison Nation is now looking to do the same thing with health care, says vice President Ken Paulus.
"Much like when we say, 'Is there a way to prevent my kids from spilling their Cheerios in the backseat of my SUV?' which is where a product like Gyro Bowl comes out, we ask those same issues but in a much more serious way. How can I improve a bandage? Is there a way to keep an IV pick in a patient more comfortably? Is there a better way to improve a hospital gown?" I think we can all agree the answer to that last one is definitely "yes."
Edison Nation has partnered with Carolinas Healthcare System to create EdisonNationMedical.com. Nurses, doctors, technicians and patients often have the best ideas for improving medical care. But Paulus notes turning a great idea into a market success is risky, expensive and time consuming.
"If you're a surgeon or a nurse, are you going to quit your day job to pursue a product that may or may not work?" says Paulus. With Edison Nation Medical, there's no need to quit your day job. The company will run your idea by experts at Carolinas Healthcare System to make sure it's got legs and do the footwork to get the best ideas into the health care market.
CHS is already promoting the site to its 50,000 employees. With any luck, Paulus says their innovations will transform health care. Or at the very least, help patients look more dignified in a hospital gown.