Innovation chiefs of non-profit healthcare systems examine ways to increase pace of innovation through collaboration

HOUSTON, Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The nonprofit Healthcare Innovators Professional Society (HIPS) held its first conference recently at the Texas Medical Center with chief innovation and strategy officers, all members of HIPS Council of 33, attending from many of the nation's largest and best known non-profit healthcare systems. Top of mind among HIPS members was a dialogue about the current opportunities and challenges of healthcare innovation and ways they can collaborate to speed the pace of advancements that will improve patient care and lower costs.

"HIPS was created to give chief innovation and strategy officers in non-profit healthcare systems a peer network and platform to exchange ideas and information and, ultimately, work together on shared goals that will improve healthcare," said founder Toby Hamilton, M.D. "What is promising is that the conference produced meaningful dialogue and connections, agreement to keep working together, and alignment around some initial next steps." 

In exploring the barriers to healthcare innovation, HIPS councilors identified these common challenges:

• The perception that innovation is supplemental and non-profit hospitals can only fund it in the best of economic times;
• A definition of innovation in many healthcare settings that narrowly focuses on opportunistic new technologies instead of strategic, long-term approaches; and
• A wide variation in innovation roles from one healthcare system to another, often with a lack of understanding of the role, which limits the innovator's ability to create change across the system.

Recognizing the challenges, HIPS councilors affirmed their commitment to strategic innovation that can transform US healthcare for the benefit of all. As part of that commitment, HIPS councilors, who collectively represent one of every four hospital beds in the U.S., agreed to the following actions:

• To pool individual best practices where possible that will advance their collective ability to create more innovative health systems;
• To explore collective actions that could strategically shift the US healthcare system and create an environment more conducive to innovation.

"This HIPS community, in reaching out across organizational boundaries, is a great example of the power of collaboration and a reminder that, while our hospital systems do compete in many ways, the shared goal is to improve our nation's health," Hamilton added.

As part of the two-day conference, HIPS councilors heard from leading voices in healthcare technology and systems change such as venture investor and former Sun Microsystems CEO, Vinod Khosla, and investor and philanthropist John Arnold, of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Recent case studies were presented by HIPS councilors including:

• "Primary care redesign," by Douglas Wood, M.D., medical director, Center for Innovation, Mayo Clinic
• "New models of care in the community," Jennifer Liebermann, senior director, Garfield Innovation Center, Kaiser Permanente
• "Attracting and retaining top talent," Peter O'Neill, executive director of innovation, Cleveland Clinic
• "Forming the Steele Institute for Innovation," Karen Murphy, chief innovation officer and founding director, Steele Institute for Healthcare Innovation, Geisinger
• "Vetting ventures for care challenges," Todd Dunn, director of innovation, Intermountain Healthcare

A session on measuring the value of innovation was presented by Thomas Graham, M.D., director of strategy and innovation at NYU Langone Health.  A tour of the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute from center director and HIPS councilor Erik Halvorsen and an informal talk on leadership and teamwork from Jamey Rootes, president of the Houston Texans football team, rounded out the program.

Along with offering avenues for peer-to-peer exchange, HIPS provides councilors with relevant content shared only within the community. Other benefits include access to leading healthcare incubators and accelerators as well as a diverse network of capital providers.

For more information about HIPS, visit hips.healthcare or follow the group on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Media Contacts:
Cherri Carbonara
Carbonara Group                                                       
713-524-8170 c: 832-473-6380                                             
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SOURCE Healthcare Innovators Professional Society (HIPS)