Jefferson CEO: This hackathon is a sign of ‘the new Jefferson’

Out with the old Jefferson.
The local healthcare giant is hosting a hackathon this weekend and it’s just one nod to the new innovation-forward approach that Jefferson, which includes Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Hospital, is taking.
The revolution is spearheaded by CEO Stephen Klasko.
He spoke on a panel this week at the launch of the Health Care Innovation Collaborative, which aims to connect corporations with health IT startups.
“The old Jefferson,” he said, wouldn’t be spending a weekend with Independence Blue Cross and a whole slew of tech companies working on drones and wearables. (Later, IBX CEO Dan Hilferty lauded Klasko as the perfect spokesman for the Health Care Innovation Collaborative. “There is no greater voice for what we’re all trying to achieve than Steve Klasko,” he said.)
On that list of tech companies: Comcast, CloudMine, NextFab, IBM, Microsoft, Dronecast and Think Brownstone.
The hackathon will have tracks focused on reducing hospital readmissions, drone-based healthcare delivery and wearables. There’s also a fitness break with yoga, Zumba and and kickboxing (and they’re offering up their showers, too).
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Also, here’s one killer prize: lunch with Comcast’s VP of Strategic Development Marc Siry.
Another sign of Jefferson’s innovation push: It promoted its Chief Information Officer, Praveen Chopra, to “Chief Information and Transformative Innovative Environment Officer” and hired its first Vice President for Technology Innovation and Consumer Experience: Neil Gomes, who last worked at the University of South Florida’s health arm.