Case 1: ‘We need to innovate!’
Anna and Peter (medical specialists in a hospital) discuss their views on innovation in health care,
during their lunch break.
Anna: “I certainly think there is an urgent need for reform in healthcare. If we continue to deliver
healthcare the way we currently do, we will be confronted with serious problems in the future.
Therefore, I think that we need radical innovations in healthcare! To be successful in this, we should
take other sectors of the economy as an example. They manage to keep their businesses sustainable
for the future!”
Peter: “Why do you think we need to innovate that drastically? I do not think that we can solve the
challenges in healthcare by only introducing new expensive technologies, like that new surgical robot
that is introduced on the department of surgery recently. It costs a lot of money and for me it is
completely unclear whether it increases the quality of care for the patient!”
Anna: “I agree, but it is a misunderstanding to think that innovations always have to be fancy
expensive new products ... in my opinion we should instead focus more on innovating the services
and processes in healthcare!”
Peter: “But how? You said we should take other sectors as an example... but in my opinion there are
substantial differences between the healthcare sector and other industries. In the healthcare sector
it might be much more difficult to introduce radical innovations than in other sectors.”
Anna: “Why do you think healthcare is so different from other sectors?”
Peter: “Oops ... one o’clock already ... my next patient is waiting ... I have to go... we’ll talk about it
later, okay?”
Practical application (to be discussed during the post-discussion of case 1)
Read the description of the innovation below and use the discussed theory in the literature of case 1
to describe how this innovation can be classified. For more information on the innovation visit:
https://luscii.com/open/ and https://luscii.com/our-product/
Corona Check app
The OLVG hospital in Amsterdam has developed another type of app that helps people to estimate
the likelihood of a corona infection. The app is now available nationwide. It requires users to pass on
data about their health on a daily basis. A medical team, supported by technology, assesses the
input. If necessary, a health professional will contact the app user by phone within 24 hours.
- Scope: new to the market
- Form or application: service
- Innovativeness: radical, lead user, between open and closed
What are the challenges in healthcare?
Challenges (of innovation) in healthcare
What are the current challenges in healthcare?
- Ageing of the population
- Growing incidence of chronic diseases
- Strong demand for high quality of care (patient organizations, insurers, healthcare
inspectorate, etc.)
- Rising expectations
- Unequal accessibility of healthcare (SES, illiteracy, ethnical background)
- Pressure on the labor force
- Rising healthcare costs
- Etc.
In summary, the main challenges we face in healthcare are
- To provide the best possible care
, - To as many people as possible
- As affordable as possible
Why do we need to innovate in healthcare?
To deal with the current challenges in healthcare
How do we cope with these challenges?
We have to make our health system sustainable for the future by redesigning healthcare!
Redesigning healthcare
Current trends in redesigning healthcare
- Adopting new payment and reimbursement models to stimulate improvement of
performance
- Moving from sickness and treatment to wellness and prevention
- Integrating primary, secondary and social care (new organizational structures)
- Finding new ways to involve private and voluntary sectors
- Making individuals more responsible for their own care (e.g. by using apps)
- Shifting from expensive hospital care to community care
- Finding cheaper and simpler organizational and technological solutions
What are the challenges of innovation in healthcare?
Challenges of innovation in healthcare
How can innovation facilitate the redesign of healthcare?
Innovation can play an important role in facilitating the redesign of healthcare by
- Improving the performance of healthcare systems (improving quality of care)
- Improving health outcomes for individuals
- Increasing efficiency of healthcare
But… also innovation has its challenges
What are the main challenges of innovation in healthcare?
- Innovation often needs large financial investments
- Not all the science and technology are implemented into everyday mainstream healthcare
practice (waste)
- There is often a considerable time lag between development and implementation (waste)
- Innovation is not always adopted correctly and not everyone has equal access (waste)
- Innovation often increases costs because it allows us to provide more healthcare (double-
edged sword)
Technological innovation is something of a double-edged sword: it has the potential to greatly
improve the performance of health systems and health outcomes for individuals, but it also requires
upfront financial investment by healthcare organizations for a possible payoff further down the line.
And it has a tendency to increase overall healthcare costs. New drugs and other technologies extend
life expectancy, better diagnostics allow more medical conditions to be picked up and more people
need to be treated
‘Innovation has the tendency to increase overall healthcare costs’
What are the challenges for the different sectors involved in innovation in healthcare?
- Healthcare is supported by four major industrial sectors
o Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology (‘biopharma’)
o Medical devices
Anna and Peter (medical specialists in a hospital) discuss their views on innovation in health care,
during their lunch break.
Anna: “I certainly think there is an urgent need for reform in healthcare. If we continue to deliver
healthcare the way we currently do, we will be confronted with serious problems in the future.
Therefore, I think that we need radical innovations in healthcare! To be successful in this, we should
take other sectors of the economy as an example. They manage to keep their businesses sustainable
for the future!”
Peter: “Why do you think we need to innovate that drastically? I do not think that we can solve the
challenges in healthcare by only introducing new expensive technologies, like that new surgical robot
that is introduced on the department of surgery recently. It costs a lot of money and for me it is
completely unclear whether it increases the quality of care for the patient!”
Anna: “I agree, but it is a misunderstanding to think that innovations always have to be fancy
expensive new products ... in my opinion we should instead focus more on innovating the services
and processes in healthcare!”
Peter: “But how? You said we should take other sectors as an example... but in my opinion there are
substantial differences between the healthcare sector and other industries. In the healthcare sector
it might be much more difficult to introduce radical innovations than in other sectors.”
Anna: “Why do you think healthcare is so different from other sectors?”
Peter: “Oops ... one o’clock already ... my next patient is waiting ... I have to go... we’ll talk about it
later, okay?”
Practical application (to be discussed during the post-discussion of case 1)
Read the description of the innovation below and use the discussed theory in the literature of case 1
to describe how this innovation can be classified. For more information on the innovation visit:
https://luscii.com/open/ and https://luscii.com/our-product/
Corona Check app
The OLVG hospital in Amsterdam has developed another type of app that helps people to estimate
the likelihood of a corona infection. The app is now available nationwide. It requires users to pass on
data about their health on a daily basis. A medical team, supported by technology, assesses the
input. If necessary, a health professional will contact the app user by phone within 24 hours.
- Scope: new to the market
- Form or application: service
- Innovativeness: radical, lead user, between open and closed
What are the challenges in healthcare?
Challenges (of innovation) in healthcare
What are the current challenges in healthcare?
- Ageing of the population
- Growing incidence of chronic diseases
- Strong demand for high quality of care (patient organizations, insurers, healthcare
inspectorate, etc.)
- Rising expectations
- Unequal accessibility of healthcare (SES, illiteracy, ethnical background)
- Pressure on the labor force
- Rising healthcare costs
- Etc.
In summary, the main challenges we face in healthcare are
- To provide the best possible care
, - To as many people as possible
- As affordable as possible
Why do we need to innovate in healthcare?
To deal with the current challenges in healthcare
How do we cope with these challenges?
We have to make our health system sustainable for the future by redesigning healthcare!
Redesigning healthcare
Current trends in redesigning healthcare
- Adopting new payment and reimbursement models to stimulate improvement of
performance
- Moving from sickness and treatment to wellness and prevention
- Integrating primary, secondary and social care (new organizational structures)
- Finding new ways to involve private and voluntary sectors
- Making individuals more responsible for their own care (e.g. by using apps)
- Shifting from expensive hospital care to community care
- Finding cheaper and simpler organizational and technological solutions
What are the challenges of innovation in healthcare?
Challenges of innovation in healthcare
How can innovation facilitate the redesign of healthcare?
Innovation can play an important role in facilitating the redesign of healthcare by
- Improving the performance of healthcare systems (improving quality of care)
- Improving health outcomes for individuals
- Increasing efficiency of healthcare
But… also innovation has its challenges
What are the main challenges of innovation in healthcare?
- Innovation often needs large financial investments
- Not all the science and technology are implemented into everyday mainstream healthcare
practice (waste)
- There is often a considerable time lag between development and implementation (waste)
- Innovation is not always adopted correctly and not everyone has equal access (waste)
- Innovation often increases costs because it allows us to provide more healthcare (double-
edged sword)
Technological innovation is something of a double-edged sword: it has the potential to greatly
improve the performance of health systems and health outcomes for individuals, but it also requires
upfront financial investment by healthcare organizations for a possible payoff further down the line.
And it has a tendency to increase overall healthcare costs. New drugs and other technologies extend
life expectancy, better diagnostics allow more medical conditions to be picked up and more people
need to be treated
‘Innovation has the tendency to increase overall healthcare costs’
What are the challenges for the different sectors involved in innovation in healthcare?
- Healthcare is supported by four major industrial sectors
o Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology (‘biopharma’)
o Medical devices
