Innovation Pulse
Representatives from two healthcare providers and a technology partner discussed the meaning, processes and obstacles to innovation in healthcare at the HIMSS Australia Digital Health Summit.
Partnership plans to bring innovations such as robotic surgery to Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City.
Andrew Maza, vice president of clinical affairs at Forest Devices, discusses how the exposure and connections made at tech competitions help participants.
Matthew Honeyman, researcher at The King's Fund, says ensuring that users are engaged in the design and implementation of systems will be one of the key challenges facing the new NHSX unit.
Eduardo Cornejo, senior director of digital innovation at Sanofi, describes how the life sciences company decides which information technology vendors to partner with.
Ramon Vullings, speaker, author, cross-industry expert and self-titled ideaDJ, sees a need for the NHS to adopt a new attitude toward innovation.
Building bridges to share expertise around innovation in the NHS is at the heart of a new partnership between HIMSS and Healthcare UK, says Rahul Agarwal, assistant director of healthcare at the Department for International Trade in the UK.
This second article in a series of three articles (check out the first article on the Data track here) focusing on the breakout tracks at the upcoming HIMSS Australia Digital Health Summit (ADHS) will touch on innovation. The term “innovation” is trendy at major health conferences and events, but what does it really mean in the context of health systems and, specifically, at hospitals and healthcare organisations?
Innovation could be seen as a method in achieving greater efficiencies and lowering costs while still delivering a high quality of care. According to an op-ed titled Digital Health Innovation: Addressing the two-canoe problem, author Paddy Padmanabhan said that technology-led innovation is no longer an option but a necessity for health systems trying to break out of the downward spiral of competing on quality and price.
Why innovate
One of the biggest challenges and problems in innovation in healthcare is that of too many pilots that end up nowhere – “innovation” projects get started but these are often done in a piecemeal manner or only focus on the short term. Eventually, these “pilots” die a slow death – either through burning out resources or simply not producing substantial outcomes.
Innovation needs to be part of sustainable long-term strategy and as Padmanabhan explains, some health systems are already developing their innovation models to encourage internal innovation and also tap into external innovation. At the ADHS event, Dr. Zoran Bolevich, chief executive of eHealth NSW, together with Dr. Manish Kohli, managing director of Beyond Horizon Health and co-founder and partner of Infinite Care Holdings, will address this exact topic at the panel session Why Innovate, sharing both Australian and international perspectives. The panel is moderated by Justin Gernot, vice president of Healthbox.
Success stories on innovation
Dr. Clair Sullivan, chief digital health officer for Metro North Hospital and Health Service located in Brisbane, Australia, will be sharing examples of success stories of innovation projects at her organisation at her session Change is our new normal: navigation innovation and change in health at the ADHS event.
Registration for the ADHS event is open and more details can be found here.
Hakim Yadi, CEO and co-founder of Closed Loop Medicine, says the development of digital health technologies should not stray "too far away" from the academic and clinic rigor applied to the pharma industry.
Applications of existing technology are safer short-run bets, but big success may come from whole new platforms and technologies, says Jon Gordon, founder and managing director of D51 Ventures.