Some of the best product ideas originate outside the government, which is why acquisition personnel at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) stood up the New Products and Ideas (NPI) website at http://mrmc-npi.amedd.army.mil to learn about innovations developed by commercial vendors that the Army could adopt to assist the warfighter.
Since 2006, this website has collected and channeled more than 1,250 fresh ideas in areas as wide-ranging as combat casualty care, military operational medicine, medical chemical and biological defense and clinical and rehabilitative medicine. When news coverage of the Ebola outbreak sparked a tremendous response from vendors interested in collaborating with the Army to help curb the spread of the disease, the NPI team received 26 proposals for a variety of countermeasures, and USAMRMC was poised to assist Army Medicine with the influx of submissions.
Along the way, the command has learned several lessons that it is translating into site and process improvements that will make the NPI a faster, smarter and more user-friendly system. These include leveraging existing partnerships, introducing new system features and changing how work is assigned. USAMRMC will fold these enhancements into a next-generation system that it expects to release later this year.
NUTS AND BOLTS
Users submit a product concept through the NPI site by first creating an online account. The system then prompts users to provide detailed information about their product or idea and its relevance to the military, following a simple two-step, password-protected process.
The NPI site alerts the appropriate subject-matter experts (SMEs) at USAMRMC, who then review the submission and evaluate its applicability to the mission. Participating businesses receive feedback on USAMRMC's interest in their submissions, usually in 60 days or less.
The USAMRMC's contracting element, the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, launched NPI in December 2006. The objective was to provide a starting point for individuals who wished to present ideas or products but weren't sure how to "crack the code" and formally collaborate with DOD. At the same time, technical experts were feeling inundated with requests for meetings with vendors to discuss products and were looking for a way to learn about new technologies in a fair and equitable way.
Because the site was geared toward fostering promising ideas and basic research rather than serving as a contracting tool, the USAMRMC's Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) assumed its management in 2011. NPI has helped introduce new medical tools that are now in use in the field, and the staff is continuing to make administrative and technical improvements to eliminate redundancies, streamline the review process and make the system more user-friendly.
GREASING THE SKIDS
Successful operation of the NPI website involves close coordination between vendors and product evaluators. A technically diverse cadre of approximately 30 SMEs reviews submissions. They include command personnel such as project managers, nurse consultants, program analysts and biomedical engineers, who assume this role in addition to their day-to-day responsibilities.
Reviewers provide formal feedback, referred to as dispositions, on each submission. In their dispositions, they provide insight and detail into whether a product meets their needs and, if not, why. If a product could prove useful with modifications, they provide that input. Then they direct vendors to the resources they should explore to apply for funding to further explore the idea or develop the product, such as through a broad agency announcement, program announcement or solicitation.
"What I look for in an NPI is a technology that can fill a current capability gap or can improve the performance of an existing capability," said NPI SME Teal LaRocca, a program analyst with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity. "A request for information from a theater of operation was sent to us for the research, development and materiel acquisition of a lightweight dismounted litter. An NPI was submitted for such a device and is now being evaluated under a solicited proposal."
Throughout the years, users have presented product concepts from the mundane to the unusual--including an idea for camouflage toilet paper. Each submission is carefully reviewed by a qualified product evaluator. Novel ideas for litters, dental equipment and various combat kits are among the 140 products and ideas submitted in 2014.
Items introduced through the NPI site and currently in use by the military include an adjustable, coiled IV tubing design fielded to support combat medics and a single-use drainage line stripper fielded to intensive care units to simplify the cumbersome emptying of drainage lines.
Site users historically have consisted of representatives from industry or the nonprofit community. Most users are unfamiliar with DOD's acquisition process, and many have a unique idea but don't know where to turn for funding. Commercial vendors frequently have a product that they want to bring to the command's attention or are looking for feedback on how an existing item can be modified to support DOD efforts.
SPO staff grease the skids of these many moving parts. They ensure that reviewers have proper training on the assessment process, maintain the NPI site and serve as a go-between for the vendors and reviewers as needed. Should the team receive a promising concept outside the program reviewers' expertise, SPO staff will look across and outside the command for assistance.
The SPO's participation in on-site medical materiel trade shows positions the command well to connect product developers with medical acquisition representatives. Vendor days provide the services' medical logistics agencies with strategic market analysis of products and technologies that may be well-suited to austere medical environments. SPO staff often invite NPI users to attend a Vendor Day event or discuss the benefits of the NPI website with session participants.
PLANS FOR NPI 2.0
As with any product, there is always room for improvement. Site administrators conducted a focus group in spring 2013 to identify ways they could improve both the site and the submission process.
The SPO maintains a close working relationship with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), which became a part of USAMRMC in 2013. The DCoE is charged with working to improve the lives of service members, families and veterans by advancing excellence in psychological health and prevention of traumatic brain injury and care. It maintains a website similar to the NPI called the DCoE Concept Submission Program (CSP). During focus group discussions attended by DCoE staff, participants worked to integrate the CSP into NPI, creating a more inclusive site to reflect USAMRMC's expanded missions.
Perhaps one of the most important system upgrades that staff identified is giving reviewers greater flexibility in generating the dispositions they send to vendors regarding their product or idea. While the current system gives reviewers a selection of automated responses they can send to vendors, they can't easily customize their input.
The new system will also include a searchable archive of submissions, giving acquisition personnel access to nearly a decade of product concepts. Other updates include a mouse-over feature that will provide contextual help and a more robust method for capturing success stories. The new site will also incorporate Google Analytics, giving administrators insight into how visitors are using the tool.
Some other added site features will focus on the workflow itself--for example, how user input is entered and then routed to SMEs. As users complete fields, the website prompts them to select categories describing their idea or innovation from drop-down lists. Administrators noticed that users sometimes failed to understand category nomenclature and would misfile their items. This, in turn, would delay review of the product by the appropriate specialist. To remedy this problem, staff developed a triage function that helps users more accurately determine who should evaluate their submission.
Reviewers who fail to see a use for a product often refer the item to a teammate for consideration. In the past, the NPI did not capture the rationale for redirecting a product. However, NPI 2.0 will prompt reviewers to elaborate on why they are referring the item. This functionality will provide the next reviewer added detail that can make the next assessment more efficient. Similarly, submissions in the past could only be routed to one research area at a time. Now they can be routed to multiple areas simultaneously, further reducing review times.
Another workflow enhancement is the integration of questions at various phases throughout the submission process, surveying participants about their experience. The team plans to use this feedback to continue advancing the tool.
Working closely with USAMRMC's Information Management Office, the SPO will launch a beta site in spring 2015. Representatives within the user community and program partners will test the updated site and identify any system glitches or workflow adjustments.
The office is also forming an NPI governance committee to oversee contextual changes to the site. As proposed modifications arise, such as adding a new research category, a team of experts will make the decision, as opposed to one office.
CONCLUSION
The NPI site serves as a one-stop shop for leaders from ?USAMRMC to view new and exciting ideas generated outside the government. Instead of spending valuable time responding to promising yet fragmented pitches from vendors, USAMRMC leadership can refer prospective partners to the site. In turn, the site guides vendors through a step-by-step process to identify how their product or idea can serve the nation's armed forces.
Vendors receive coaching from real experts in the field, along with thoughtful, specific input that saves them investment dollars and time. Lastly and most importantly, the site ensures that no stone is left unturned in developing new and innovative products that will help protect the men and women of the U.S. military.
For more information, see the "Guide to Working with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command -- USAMRMC," available at https://mrmc.amedd.army.mil/index.cfm?pageid=work.overview; click on "Work with us" in the column at left. Or contact the NPI Team at usarmy.detrick.medcom-usamrmc.other.npi@mail.mil.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center
Guide to Working with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command -- USAMRMC
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