Do we need innovation in healthcare?

When you pause to think about innovation, how do you see it shaping healthcare?

Over the past few decades, innovation has been a powerful force driving progress across many industries and cultures. It has consistently fostered positive change, leading to better outcomes for individuals, organisations, and society as a whole. Consider the internet’s impact on global information sharing or how smartphones have revolutionised communication and access to information—these are clear examples of innovation at work.

At its core, innovation can be described as applying new ideas and products to solve challenges and enhance capabilities. Innovation can be perceived as an aspiration, a business strategy, and a dynamic process of change, all at once. 

Many healthcare systems worldwide are grappling with maintaining quality standards and offering patients a choice of services. The financial strain is real. Economies are struggling to keep up with rising health budgets. At the same time, we are all living longer, often with more chronic conditions. Over time, this will only increase the demand for healthcare services to keep older people healthy and independent. Compounding this issue is the alarming rate at which healthcare professionals are experiencing burnout and leaving the workforce, leading to critical shortages on a global scale.

The irony here is stark: as our health systems become less efficient, the need for innovation becomes even more pressing. There is broad consensus that we must develop resilient, efficient, and equitable healthcare systems that can meet the evolving needs of populations and continue delivering high-quality care for future generations.

With fewer healthcare professionals and increasing consumer demands, it’s essential to re-evaluate our priorities and find more efficient ways to operate.

Innovation provides a pathway to identifying and addressing the real challenges in healthcare. We’re witnessing an explosion of new ideas, technologies, and entrepreneurial efforts in the healthcare space, creating immense potential for improvement. Yet, there remains a disconnect in how healthcare organisations apply business strategies to drive meaningful change. Too often, the practical integration of new ideas into daily operations falls short, hindering sustained improvements.

My question for your reflection is: How can we harness our knowledge of innovation to better lead and manage the processes that will enable us to achieve these critical aspirations?

In future blog posts, I will introduce a thoughtful and theoretically informed approach to innovation—one that balances ambition with practicality—so that together, we can unlock the full potential of new ideas and technologies. The future of healthcare depends not only on what we innovate, but also on how we implement and sustain those innovations in a way that leads to real, lasting change.