The Spark of Innovation in Healthcare

Published on April 12, 2016 |

What if solving a problem was supported by $1 billion? Take a lesson from the healthcare sector, where companies can find big financial incentives for innovation to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

That $1B award pool is what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced as part of its Health Care Innovation Awards in 2013. This partnership grants money in the public and private healthcare sectors across the country for testing innovative health care models in various areas of care.

This is just one example of partnerships cropping up around the country that support the need for healthcare and healthcare tech innovation.

Maximize the Impact of Funding
If the investments and funding are there, what else does a facility need—whether healthcare or traditional business—to take a lead on fostering and fueling innovation? How does a business connect the pieces with a pool of available funding?

One academic medical center uncovered a tool for delivering higher quality care and cutting excessive waste. Louis A. Shapiro and C. Mark Angelo demonstrated the benefits of creating an environment conducive to innovation and development. They offer these lessons from their own institution’s development of a health innovation:

• Build an environment that enables employees to strive for continual improvements.
• Embrace change from the top down.
• Put appropriate infrastructure in place.

Don’t stop there. Tap into other areas of inspiration. Build and test in beta, and perfect until you have a business model.

Partnerships with Payoff
The implementation of electronic medical records is one example of how companies can thrive within the healthcare space and drive innovation. Fortunately, the field is ready for it, and will continue to see new innovations with the advent of the Affordable Care Act and ever-present emerging technologies.

Healthcare IT companies and innovative businesses could help resolve the high demands the healthcare system faces—namely, improving the quality of care, and resolving overemployment and reduced productivity.

The healthcare field is ripe for those committed to innovation.

Let Webster Bank help advise you on myriad funding strategies. Call your relationship manager or Client Services at 855.274.2800 for more information.