It seems that no serious dialogue about how to fix America’s healthcare issues is complete without the word “innovation”. And rightfully so, as great innovations reduce cost, improve care, serve more patients, and reduce physician burnout. But what does “innovation” in healthcare look like, exactly?

An “innovation” is an invention that fulfills a need and has an economic benefit. A company innovates by either providing customers with the same product or service at a lower price (Amazon) or creates an entirely new market altogether (Microsoft). These examples of innovation rely on a direct relationship between a customer’s needs and the company that fulfills that need. But, in healthcare, “customers”, or patients, rarely have a direct relationship with their desired outcome – good health.

There are several reasons for this disconnect. First, patients typically don’t want to undergo extensive healthcare tests and interventions. Second, patients rely on the advice of a physician, who has their own needs and barriers in delivering healthcare. Third, physicians, in-turn rely on a  network of secondary and tertiary care providers, pharmacists, hospitals, and payers to determine what level and type of care they CAN provide, each with their own unique, and often conflicting, needs. So while innovation in other industries looks fairly straightforward, it is convoluted in healthcare because of the individual needs of every stakeholder in the chain of purchasing care.

My colleagues and I sought to better understand innovation in healthcare and to determine the attributes of health care delivery that matter most. Our main takeaway (linked below) is that innovating in healthcare isn’t about lower prices or creating new markets; rather, innovation must ease or eliminate tensions between the social needs of healthcare stakeholders. For example, if an idea provides a new method of delivering care, but it does not ease tensions, then it may be just a process improvement and not an "innovation". This doesn't diminish the contribution the idea provides, but rather shows us where more work is needed to deliver on the promise of “innovation”. So, the next time you hear a panelist invoke “innovation” as the solution to healthcare, we hope you take a moment to think about what tensions need to be eased – and why.

Joseph Salama, MSc worked at the UW before becoming a Senior Consultant at Jump Associates. He is also an advisor at the UCSF Health Hub, a digital health accelerator.

E-cigarette associated lung injury has been making headlines across the country. Now might be a good time to review how to care for patients that you think might be affected by it.