User Innovation In Healthcare

This book explores in depth the phenomenon of user innovation in healthcare. In particular, the book sheds light on patient innovation, whereby patients and/or caregivers proactively develop and diffuse new products and services that provide health and quality of life benefits by addressing gaps in existing market offerings. The aim is to clarify the key characteristics of these innovative processes and to offer practitioners and policymakers tangible bottom-up evidence, solutions, and ideas that will assist in improving health systems, organizations, and practices. A number of important and interesting research questions are addressed, casting light on the types of products and services that tend to be developed by patient innovators, the typical profile of these innovators, the role played by firms, institutions, and health professionals, and the ways in which digital technologies support the dissemination of innovations among patient communities and within the industry. Beyond academic scholars and policymakers, the book will be of high value for students on master’s programs in both medical sciences and business and economics.

Powerful new approaches and advances in medical systems drive increasingly high expectations for healthcare providers internationally. The form of digital healthcare – a suite of new technologies offering significant benefits in cost and quality – allow institutions to keep pace with society’s needs. This book covers the need for responsible innovation in this area, exploring the issues of implementation as well as potential negative consequences to ensure digital healthcare delivers for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Moritz Göldner analyzes the unexplored phenomenon of patients and caregivers as innovators with respect to their own unmet medical needs in two complementary studies. In study 1 he uses a mixed-method approach to analyze quantitative data from two datasets on more than 1,100 medical smartphone apps each and qualitative data from 16 interviews with developers of medical apps. He finds substantial evidence that patients and caregivers develop medical apps and shows that those apps receive significantly better ratings than company-developed apps. In study 2 he further explores the commercialization activities of patients and caregivers by analyzing 14 case studies of patients and caregivers who successfully brought their tangible medical device on the market. He finds that those innovators did not maximize their profits, but rather sought to market their devices at reasonable prices to offer access to many other patients. The author discusses these insights and draws conclusions for scholars and managers that are valid beyond this extreme case of user innovation. About the author Moritz Göldner is an innovation consultant for user-centered innovation in (digital) healthcare. Prior to this position, he was a project manager and research associate at the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at Hamburg University of Technology. His research interests cover user innovation in healthcare, social innovation, the emergence of new medical technologies, as well as entrepreneurship.

Individuals with disabilities, chronic conditions, and functional impairments need a range of services and supports to keep living independently. However, there often is not a strong link between medical care provided in the home and the necessary social services and supports for independent living. Home health agencies and others are rising to the challenges of meeting the needs and demands of these populations to stay at home by exploring alternative models of care and payment approaches, the best use of their workforces, and technologies that can enhance independent living. All of these challenges and opportunities lead to the consideration of how home health care fits into the future health care system overall. On September 30 and October 1, 2014, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council convened a public workshop on the future of home health care. The workshop brought together a spectrum of public and private stakeholders and thought leaders to improve understanding of the current role of Medicare home health care in supporting aging in place and in helping high-risk, chronically ill, and disabled Americans receive health care in their communities. Through presentations and discussion, participants explored the evolving role of Medicare home health care in caring for Americans in the future, including how to integrate Medicare home health care into new models for the delivery of care and the future health care marketplace. The workshop also considered the key policy reforms and investments in workforces, technologies, and research needed to leverage the value of home health care to support older Americans, and research priorities that can help clarify the value of home health care. This summary captures important points raised by the individual speakers and workshop participants.

This book investigates the powerful role of online intermediaries, which connect companies with their end customers, to facilitate joint product innovation. Especially in the healthcare context, such intermediaries deploy interactive online platforms to foster co-creation between engaged healthcare consumers and innovation-seeking healthcare companies. In three empirical studies, this book outlines the key characteristics of online intermediaries in healthcare, their distinct strategies, and the remaining challenges in the field. Readers will also be introduced to the stages companies go through in adopting such co-created solutions. As such, the work appeals for both its academic scope and practical reach.

This book focuses on how companies are innovating with regard to the Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) − the lowest socio-economic segment, and the organizational conditions they need to be successful. The authors use several examples of disruptive innovations for this market, particularly in the Indian healthcare sector. Low-cost, specialty hospital chains like Aravind Eye Care and Narayana Hrudayalaya have brought down the cost of certain medical procedures significantly. The Indian conglomerate Tata Group and the American healthcare giant GE Healthcare have also developed affordable products targeted at the lowest-income segments in India. The authors present an in-depth analysis of these companies and present their insightful results on disruptive innovation and the ever-challenging BOP market.

Across the world, the demands placed on health systems are growing rapidly. Developed countries face the challenge of providing services to an ageing population with changing health needs, while countries with developing health systems must find ways of ensuring their populations are provided with access to healthcare. Innovative thinking is essential to meet these twin challenges, but innovation is both a cause and cure of many struggles in healthcare — we need it, but it is hard to manage and the introduction of new technology can lead to higher costs. Using real-life examples and case studies from around the world, this book introduces the latest thinking on understanding and managing healthcare innovation more effectively. It does this from the perspective of governments responsible for shaping health policy, healthcare organisations providing services and juggling competing demands, and from the perspective of the industries that supply the new drugs, devices and other technologies. Managing Innovation in Healthcare is the perfect accompaniment for MSc, PhD and MBA students on health policy, management and public health courses, as well as managers, consultants and policy makers involved in healthcare services in both the public and private sector.

It is now recognized that innovation in healthcare needs to be a primary strategy for dealing with the challenges of pressure from consumers and the effort to control costs.This practical guide describes key issues surrounding innovation, such as the barriers to innovation in healthcare, the opportunities of working across boundaries in open innovation, and the process and tools of exploring the innovation approach. The highly-regarded author follows a five-stage process model that presents a systematic base for understanding, and -- more importantly -- performing innovation work: 1. Defining the innovation design challenge 2. The process and tools of exploring the innovation 3. Generating innovative ideas 4. Prototyping and testing innovations 5. Creating a diffusion plan This user-friendly guide is ideal for all healthcare professionals and healthcare teams, both in training and in practice.