Healthcare is arguably one of the fastest-changing industries.
I personally think, with my colleague Amar Thomas, that embracing a culture of innovation within a healthcare organization is the key to build a better healthcare system and make it accessible for everyone.
Basically, innovation is the secret to a better future, isn’t it?
However, innovating should not be something ‘secret’, but more like a global language, that every healthcare company should learn, use, and expand!
To evolve in a competitive way, attract skilled talents, remain relevant in the long term, and keep up with our everchanging world, healthcare companies must embrace innovation culture and not shy away from change. Implementing a new corporate culture concretely starts with transmitting it throughout the hierarchy. So…if you, dear reader, are at the top of the hierarchy, at the ‘sacred’ C-level, you must make sure to challenge your employees to come up with new ideas and develop them in real solutions.
On the other side, if you are within the management team of your company, make sure that your desire for innovation is heard up there!
There are many reasons why it is important to embrace innovation within healthcare companies:
- Digital transformation is skyrocketing within numerous fields. We need to keep up with these industries; healthcare is essential to our society (and the Covid-19 pandemic proved it), so we need to bring this field to the next level, by giving accessible healthcare to everyone.
- Having a strong innovation culture within your company can attract the right talent you need to grow your company even more. Basically, by having an innovation-driven organization, patients receive better healthcare, and you attract amazing people. This is a win-win situation, right?
- Bringing innovation within your company will help you stay relevant. Innovative culture helps companies generate highly profitable new solutions and products which can support the company’s future trajectory and development in the industry.
Now, you might say: “Ok Jochum, all this seems very nice in the perfect world. But how can a big healthcare company embrace a culture of innovation? What’s the first step?”.
Please know that I understand your doubts!
Of course, one way, and the most obvious one, to embed innovation in a company’s culture is to invest in technology and study design. This will allow your company to focus on products and development and spend less on operations that do not serve a “forward-thinking” mindset.
The second way of course is prioritizing investment in staff and creation of competent teams to solve complex problems, harvest creativity, and challenge the current company practices.
As far I am concerned, I think that making sure to develop digital and customer-centric solutions, with the goal of increasing the communication between healthcare professionals, patients, and the industry, but also simplifying the current complex healthcare system, is the fastest way to bring innovation in the plate.
An example of how you can make this happen is to join one of our innovation programs to develop your idea quickly and efficiently into a digital solution that matters. Innovation is at the very core of our own culture and by helping you identify your needs and opportunities, we will enforce the innovative mindset in your teams to bring your prototype to market. At the end of each program, in addition to having a clearer idea of your identity and better knowledge of your customers’ needs, you will have full awareness of the potential of your company which you need to remain competitive in this dynamic field. Innovation is often associated with new products when in reality it should be more often associated with people because they are its most important drivers.
Do you want to take the first step towards innovation? Learn more about our innovation program and let’s have a chat! Visit our website.
Author: Jochum Damstra
