Becker's Hospital Review

FINANCE STRATEGY AND INNOVATION 29 Pain Points of Innovation: It Takes More Than a Good Idea By Akanksha Jayanthi I nnovation is the name of the game, and everyone wants to play. e rise of healthcare innovation centers responds to a growing need and desire to address some of the industry's biggest problem areas, but innovation itself is burdened with its own pain points. In 2013, 85 percent of healthcare ex- ecutives said innovation is either quite im- portant or very important to the success of their organizations, but only 18 percent considered themselves "innovation pio- neers," according to PricewaterhouseC- ooper's "2013 Global Innovation Survey." Still, approximately 70 health systems have launched their own innovation centers since 2009 when the ACA was signed into law. Here, leaders of innovation centers across the U.S. share some of the continued pain points of innovation: Aer making the decision to dedicate time and resourc- es to the cause, what continues to cause problems? Doing too much, too soon e vision and ideals of innovation are grand. Aer all, researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators are tasked with changing an industry worth nearly $2.9 trillion. It's a big industry with big issues, but oen, or- ganizations approach innovation with eyes bigger than their stomach can handle. "Many organizations, when they're ei- ther getting into innovation or they made this a part of their mission statement, they actually try to solve world hunger with it," says Chris McCarthy, director of Kaiser Permanente's Innovation Learning Net- work and an innovation specialist with Kaiser's Innovation Consultancy. "Al- though that probably is a really great chal- lenge for innovation, most of us don't have the muscle to do that yet. Eventually you could tackle world hunger, but you should try growing a tree first." Not only do organizations try to do too much, but they oen mix up the steps of the innovation process. e pro- cess, according to Mr. McCarthy, begins with a deep understanding of a problem. "In healthcare, we tend to jump the gun and think we know what the problem is or what the real needs are without really giving justice to the [discovery] phase of innovation," he says. Brainstorming and ideation — the creative part of innovation — come second. Jean Wright, MD, Chief Innovation Officer at Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare System, agrees with Mr. Mc- Carthy and says innovation is a process of multiple discoveries, not a single light bulb moment. e core of a problem needs to be understood before meaningful innova- tion can occur. "It's not just brainstorming. It's not just, 'I have a great idea,'" she says. "We start with the problem before we jump ahead to solving the problem." Carolinas conducts ethnographies to help uncover these deeper problems that require attention and reveal issues that ar- en't apparent in the day-to-day processes. Leaders watch a group of clinicians, staff and patients interact to observe workflow and identify potential trouble areas for themselves. Recently, the system conducted an ethnography in the emergency room and discovered the first thing people did upon checking in was look for an outlet to plug in their phone. Dr. Wright says it became apparent that patients wanted to com- municate with their families and provide updates right off the bat, so Carolinas im- plemented charging stations in the waiting rooms. A small change, to be sure: Device charging stations won't change the trajec- tory of healthcare, but it's a small alteration that met a prevalent need in the Carolinas community. A fragmented effort Innovation is a job that requires an all-in approach with support up and down the leadership vertical. A lack of leadership support or a disjointed support system can stifle ideas. "Innovation cannot be a hobby. It's got to be a religion, part of what you do," says Stephen Klasko, MD, president and CEO of Philadelphia-based omas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health . "If you're not going to be all in, don't get into it." In January, Jefferson opened the Jef- ferson Accelerator Zone, or JAZ, as a ded- icated innovation hub affiliated with the university. Although it is affiliated, the JAZ is structured to stand entirely alone with its own board, lawyers and administration. "Many organizations, when they're either getting into innovation or they made this a part of their mission statement, they actually try to solve world hunger with it." — Chris McCarthy, Director of Kaiser Permanente's Innovation Learning Network

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