INNOVATION has been described in various angles to fit industry and purpose which it is supposed to serve.
Borrowing it from the business, technology, and marketing industries, the term has been used to describe policies, systems, technologies, ideas, services, and products that provide solutions to existing healthcare problems.
Accept mission notes that healthcare innovations fall within the category of social innovations, which seek to address societal problems and the World Health Organization (WHO) argues that health innovation raises healthcare’s productivity, efficiency, reliability, sustainability, security, and cost.
Importance of innovation in healthcare.
In order to fully understand innovation, it is important to explore why to is important in health care, but generally innovation designates new, better and more effective ways of solving problems.
In health care management systems, innovation is crucial for healthcare team management, as it can improve patient outcomes, staff satisfaction, and organizational performance.
However there have been arguments that innovation by its very nature requires resources, time, and support that may not be readily available in a budget-constrained environment especially in developing countries like Zimbabwe.
Despite these challenges it is however important to note that innovation is invaluable in the sense that can lead to better patient care, improved population health, and lower healthcare costs.
Healthcare innovations can improve patient outcomes by providing new and better treatment options, making it easier for patients to access care, and improving care coordination.
It can also lead to improvements in people health by making it easier for them to live healthy lifestyles and putting at their exposure new tools to detect and prevent the early onset of diseases.
Healthcare innovation can help to lower healthcare costs by improving the efficiency of care delivery and by providing new and less expensive treatment options.
Key issues to address in healthcare
There are a number of areas that present barriers to innovation in healthcare. We need to tackle these if we are to make innovation happen.
Privacy and data sharing
The handling of confidential patient data is a fundamental requirement for many potential innovations in the health spaces and it has been one of the main challenge in trying to get new products to market.
According to National Institutes of Health information governance processes can appear a frustrating barrier to anyone who wants to improve how their national health service is organised and delivered, with many feeling that information governance has become overly-complex, too risk averse and too inflexible to meet the modern needs of patients and clinicians.
Data sharing thus becomes essential to delivering integrated care, improving patient experience and conducting research – achieving a pragmatic approach to information governance will be vital.
Intellectual property policy should not strangle new innovations
Delivering fair and rational intellectual property treatment to innovators within the health services sector is a vital ingredient to promoting innovation in the health services sector.
Battles around intellectual property can result in great ideas being stifled, with the result that their potential is never realised.
This implores health services layers to implore the various legal areas including polices and acts available in Zimbabwe when it comes to innovation and how they the management of intellectual property.
How to promote innovation in healthcare services.
To promote innovation in healthcare settings, it is important to create a climate that supports and empowers individuals and teams to be creative and innovative given that open innovation approaches, such as healthcare hackathons, can bring together different stakeholders to formulate patient-specific problems and find innovative solutions.
Understanding the different types of innovation and opportunities is significant in healthcare, as it allows organizations to address critical needs and enhance patient value the emergence of The Covid-19 has accelerated research, development, and innovation activities in the healthcare sector, highlighting the importance of innovation in addressing challenges and improving overall performance.
Encourage feedback and collaboration
One of the simplest and most effective ways to promote innovation in your healthcare team is to encourage feedback and collaboration among your staff.
This can help an organisation to identify the problems, needs, and opportunities that its team is facing while collaboration can help can generate and implement solutions.
The key is to make feedback and collaboration easy, accessible, and rewarding for your team members.
Provide training and development
Training and development has over the years been the safest way to foster innovation.
In health care training and development can help your team acquire new skills, knowledge, and perspectives that can enhance their creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Programmes such as online courses, webinars, workshops, podcasts, or books can come in handy .
Recognize and reward innovation
Most companies have been found wanting on this front but Accept mission notes that to stimulate innovation in your healthcare team you need to recognize and reward innovation efforts and achievements.
Recognition and reward can motivate your team to pursue innovation and appreciate its value and impact.
You can design a recognition and reward system that is fair, transparent, and meaningful for your team, such as verbal or written praise, certificates, badges, bonuses, or promotions.
Experiment and learn
Another way to cultivate innovation in your healthcare team is to experiment and learn from your innovation initiatives.
Experimentation and learning can help your team test and refine their ideas, learn from their failures and successes, and improve their innovation processes and outcomes.
You can create a safe and supportive environment for your team to experiment and learn, such as setting clear goals and expectations, providing guidance and feedback, allocating time and resources, and tolerating mistakes and