Why Innovation is a hot topic in the health care sector

It is relatively easy for anyone who works in the healthcare sector to concentrate only on the day to day, week to week activities which are the major focus of ones working life. So what do you think of when you hear the term 'Innovation' being used? Do you think of innovation as being like the light bulb switching on (i.e. a new idea), or perhaps even a new process?

In fact innovation is a little more complicated than just being a light bulb moment. You can have the best idea in the world but if it does not translate into an outcome that results in some fundamental change, then it remains ..... just an idea.

One of the best definitions of Innovation can be found via Wikipedia and involves the notion of doing something differently versus just doing something better.

Due to the ongoing challenges faced across the world in the healthcare sector  'Innovation' is beginning to feature in the parlance of a number of major healthcare organizations. Examples include the Center for Innovation Mayo Clinic , the Cleveland Clinic Innovations Centre as well as the web portal for the Innovation Dashboard NHS in the United Kingdom.

What all of these organizations have in common, is an understanding at the leadership level of the importance of harnessing the untapped talents of all of the employees. This is in order to bring about the types of ongoing fundamental change that will enable increasing value to be derived from the allocation of resources within the organization. This involves building both a community and culture for innovation within the organization. This process requires that a number of  elements be in place as summarized in the following graphic-

So why is it important for healthcare organizations to embrace innovation? As outlined in this online post via the Harvard Business Review there remain a number of unmet challenges facing healthcare organizations and hence embracing innovation is one strategy for addressing these challenges,