Dive Brief:
- A new study sponsored by HIMSS and innovation accelerator AVIA has concluded that cost reduction is the key point of innovation initiatives within hospitals and ambulatory care centers. The study surveyed 92 U.S. hospitals, academic medical centers, children's and ambulatory care centers.
- Researchers found that the type of facility that two variances in their innovation attempts. Hospitals generally were primarily focused on cutting costs, but academic and children's hospitals made improving knowledge sharing their top priority.
- The survey also found that most facilities had dedicated budgets for innovation, though 67% noted that their budgets totaled less than $2 million.
Dive Insight:
I was surprised to read that 43% of participants in the survey expect return on investment in less than 24 months. Setting goals for innovation sounds great, but counting on a financial return from innovation, not so much. Innovative approaches may pay off only over the long term, at least in terms of hard dollars and cents. In the meantime, setting "soft" goals that focus on improving processes -- measured by factors other than financial return -- may meet more of their needs.