Patient needs key for innovation - survey indicates

More than eight in ten (81%) leaders in healthcare organisations across UK and Ireland say keeping pace with patient needs is one of the main factors driving innovation initiatives within their organisations, with nearly three-quarters (72%) seeing this capability among key signs of innovation success.

These are among the headline findings of a survey commissioned by InterSystems and conducted by research house, Vitreous World, which polled senior leaders across the healthcare sector in the UK and Ireland.

Chris Norton, managing director UK&I, InterSystems said: “It is encouraging to see just how much innovation is prized and prioritised by healthcare leaders today. It is, after all, crucial in building healthcare partnerships; in finding ways to share data securely and efficiently across practices and trusts; and in delivering actionable insights that achieve optimum patient health outcomes.”

However, while the research found that more than seven in ten (71%) leaders in healthcare polled believe that innovation is vital to the survival of their organisation, when it comes to making use of it, UK and Ireland healthcare organisations are being held back by a wide range of obstacles.

Budget constraints remain one of the biggest barriers to innovation in healthcare, as cited by 43% of respondents. Moreover, while half (50%) of respondents recognise that their innovation initiatives could be improved by having access to real-time data, they are having to navigate a wide range of challenges here too. These include a ‘skills gap to understand the data and analyse it’ (referenced by 45%); delays in accessing the data (38%) and getting the data in the needed format (33%).

Norton added: “We know that enhancing patient care is at the heart of driving healthcare innovation, and data has a key role to play in that. Having technology in place and investing in solutions that can provide a holistic, real-time view of the patient journey can help medical practitioners in their decision making, helping to deliver a better level of care to their patients, in a timelier manner.”

A more detailed summary of the key findings of the research, titled: “Why innovation matters in healthcare and how providers can deliver it”, is now available. This short report, which highlights the importance of a collaborative approach to change in healthcare, can be accessed here.