What is innovation?
Innovation is new solutions that address some form of need or demand. This may involve developing and implementing new processes, products, services, or methods.
The value of innovation arises when ideas are put into practice, as the innovation creates benefits in everyday life or in the wider world. In healthcare, innovation is based on patients’ needs.
Within healthcare in Region Västra Götaland (VGR), innovation is defined as:
Making use of something that is both new and useful—that is, new solutions that meet needs and demand and create value through their use.
Innovation in healthcare often emerges in the clinical everyday setting and is based on patients’ needs. There are also many examples where innovation has resulted from research or where inspiration from other industries or sectors has led to new solutions. It is therefore important that healthcare creates the conditions to be an active driver of innovation.
Two concepts that are sometimes incorrectly treated as equivalent are digitalisation and innovation. Systematic digitalisation can lead to innovation, but not all digitalisation should be described as innovation.