The So what? who cares? why you? methodology is the defining moment for our organization’s ideation process. It fits seamlessly into our process and creates a positive and engaging experience for our health care innovators.”
The Challenge
Can the future of health care actually originate on a cocktail napkin? Absolutely! In 2012, Community Health Network announced plans to foster innovation among its employees and external partners with the unveiling of Community Launchpad, an innovation incubator designed to develop healthcare advancements, improve healthcare delivery, and seed entrepreneurial opportunities. Community Launchpad invests in the most promising services, products, and technologies that solve needs for patients while creating a culture of entrepreneurship among its physicians, nurses, clinical, and administrative staff. A key element in the process was to deploy a friendly, yet robust front-end system that would encourage staff members to explore how their ideas can make an impact, either inside the organization or in the market.
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The Solution
So what? who cares? why you? was chosen to sit at the front-end of the Community LaunchPad innovation process, which is where health care innovators take that all-important first step to explore the business value of their ideas. Ideas are welcome from all employees – be it a physician, clinician, nurse, radiologist or other staff member. Once employees have stepped forward, a team of WKI Certified Coaches run ideation clinics in which these healthcare innovators come together to work on and support the development of their ideas. Through So what? who cares? why you?, the CHN is able to offer a friendly, collaborative environment where innovators work together to explore and determine the potential for their ideas.
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The Results
Today, CHN is recognized inside and outside the healthcare industry for its unique approach to healthcare innovation. Employees from this 12,000 person organization regularly bring their ideas to the Community Launchpad to explore and discover their value. Whether it’s an idea to improve the quality of patient care or a new surgical device for the OR, employees – often still wearing their scrubs – are putting on their “entrepreneurial hats” to turn their ideas into opportunities.
Listen to Wendy’s conversation with Pete Turner as he shares the story of building an innovation hub in healthcare.
