Health. Care. | An Educational Blog

Every successful organization, from a small grassroots group to a global corporation, has a way for ideas to percolate through the system and find their way to the top decision-makers. Human ingenuity can come from anywhere, including cost-saving ideas (the matchbox), ways to attract new demographics (Flamin' Hot Cheetos), retain current customers (Starbucks), and of course, launch completely new products (PlayStation). From our last post, we know that hospitals and healthcare systems allocate their budgets in advance, with limited protocols for integrating innovations. How can the individual with an idea get that innovation in front of the right people at the right time, and of course, in the right way? In today's post, we'll explore one method to get you there.

Hospital finances are a complex process, involving all the parts of a service provider, a retail business, an investment venture, and a non-profit organization. Investment in medical innovations require buy-in from anyone (and everyone) from physicians and nurses all the way to the CFO and CEO. In today's post, we will introduce a series on the topic of how hospitals budget and spend money, and how an individual employee can use that information in order to bring an innovative idea to the right person at the right time. 

The perceived stability of the national economy impacts the willingness of the healthcare industry to invest in innovations with up-front costs. In times of relative economic stability, healthcare systems may be more willing and able to make up-front investments with returns that pay off in the short- and long-term. During times of more economic instability, healthcare systems may opt to pass on these same innovations in their efforts to cut immediate costs. What can make the difference? Quality data at sufficient quantity can mitigate risk-aversion during times of instability. In today's post, we will explore how to make the value proposition for infection control innovations even during times of economic volatility.