Think back to a time when you didn’t have the right equipment or the right systems in place to provide the kind of patient care you wanted. You might have created your own piece of equipment by taking two objects and holding them together with a clamp, or used an elastic band you found in the nurse’s station to hold a tube in place. Whether you realized it or not, at that moment, you were an innovator. Health care innovation can be defined as the introduction of a new concept, idea, service, process, or product aimed at improving treatment, diagnosis, education, outreach, prevention, and research, and with the long-term goals of improving quality, safety, outcomes, efficiency, and costs.1
Health care providers are masters of the “work around” because we often are faced with providing care in less than optimal circumstances. Because of our clinical expertise and our desire to provide the best care possible, we often design approaches to care that are unique, effective, and sometimes can lower costs. While not every health care provider has that spirit of innovation, health care institutions, including MGH, are fostering provider innovation with small grants to support ideas that improve the way their facilities operate. Recognizing that the best innovation comes from those who are closest to the challenge, health care facilities are encouraging all heath care providers to be thinking of ways to improve care.
So what is the role of an academic institution, like the Institute, that prepares health care providers of the future in creating a passion for innovation in its graduates? How can we prepare students for the unknown of the work world? How can we create a climate of innovation on campus? Higher education is traditionally a risk-avoidant environment. We need to provide opportunities and space for faculty and students to take risks and innovate, celebrating both successes and failures. The fear of failing is one of the most significant factors that prevents people from pursuing new ideas and is one of the leading impediments to progress.
Every day, we need to build educational experiences that encourage innovation, especially those that happen in the interprofessional space. As a leader in interprofessional education, it is particularly important for us to foster innovation as a collaborative effort. Having students engage in entrepreneurial thinking and creativity as part of their interprofessional curriculum will prepare them for a future in which they can help shape their environment instead of being defined by it.
You have heard me say many times that our students will change the world. By providing an opportunity for that innovative spirit to grow, we can be assured that it will happen.
1. Omachonu, V.K., Einspruch, N.G. (2010), Innovation in Healthcare Delivery Systems: A Conceptual Framework. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, Volume 15(1), Article 2.