TEDMED held two live events yesterday with team leaders from the Great Challenges program.

The first, achieving medical innovation, centered on affordability, oft cited as a barrier to getting new products and services to market, particularly technology.  Participants quickly countered the notion by pointing out how often innovation is introduced to save money — and how small, cost-efficient steps can make a big difference.  Watch the group here:

For more on this event, see the Twitter recap by MedCityNews, “TEDMED innovation panel: We’re on the verge of a patient engagement explosion.”

A second group met later in the afternoon to talk out the more sobering topic of medical errors. Here, too, the topic of where and how to innovate, and particularly when technology helps or harms, figured large in the conversation, as well as introducing novel collaboration.  In this case, however, the group agreed that the system must first cure itself before asking further involvement from patients in their own care.

John Nosta, EVP of Ogilvy CommonHealth, moderated the events.  The program is sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  See TEDMED’s Google Plus page for upcoming Hangouts, which will be held almost ever week through February.