A nurse-founded innovative solution to a decades-old clinical challenge is gaining attention from the NIH. Discover how a collaboration with UW’s Digital Health Innovation Hub could transform patient safety and put nurses at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
The Digital Health Innovation Hub (DHIH) at the University of Washington School of Nursing continues to catalyze impactful partnerships that advance nurse-led innovation. One standout example is a recently submitted NIH Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) application developed through a collaboration between Dr. Oleg Zaslavsky, Director of DHIH, and Crimson Medical Solutions, a nurse-founded start-up focused on patient safety.
The project, centered around Crimson’s “IV Manager”—a color-coded, modular system designed to reduce IV-line confusion and medication errors—aims to address preventable adverse drug events (ADEs) in acute care settings. These events, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, are often caused by misidentification and disorganization of IV lines, a common and longstanding challenge in clinical nursing practice.
Dr. Zaslavsky, who serves as the academic co-principal investigator, described the innovation as a “pragmatic, nurse-informed solution to an everyday safety issue that nurses have silently struggled with for decades.” His role focuses on leading the simulated clinical validation work, which will take place at the UW School of Nursing’s high-fidelity simulation lab.
The STTR submission received strong enthusiasm from NIH reviewers, who highlighted the project’s “high significance,” the strength of its interdisciplinary team, and the quality of the research environment at UW. “We were very encouraged by the reviewer feedback,” said Dr. Zaslavsky. “Their support validated the importance of tackling this long-overlooked challenge in hospital safety. The feedback also gave us a clear path forward as we refine the product and prepare for resubmission in the fall.”
While the reviewers praised many aspects of the proposal, they sought additional detail on the novelty and clinical advantage of the IV Manager compared to existing tools. This will be a key focus in the next application. “The resubmission gives us an opportunity to demonstrate just how distinct and impactful this tool is, especially in the hands of nurses who need intuitive, workflow-compatible solutions,” added Dr. Zaslavsky.
The project not only showcases a promising technology but also exemplifies the kind of translational collaboration DHIH aims to support. “This partnership reflects our core mission—to empower nurse innovators and create pathways for their ideas to reach clinical practice,” Dr. Zaslavsky noted. “Through STTRs, we can structure meaningful academic-industry-community collaborations that bring nursing voices to the forefront of healthcare innovation.”
DHIH encourages faculty and community partners to explore similar STTR opportunities as part of its growing portfolio. The IV Manager project provides a compelling roadmap for how DHIH can serve as an incubator for user-centered, equity-driven solutions that address real-world clinical pain points.
Stay tuned for updates on the project’s resubmission in the fall, and for more opportunities to connect with DHIH-supported ventures transforming healthcare delivery through nurse-led innovation.