Posted on: June 24, 2024
Attention Island Health innovators – an Innovation Program site is now available on the Intranet to help you and your ideas shape the future of healthcare.
The site includes information on supports and resources to foster innovation at Island Health – including an intake form that staff, medical staff and volunteers can use to submit ideas, problems and project proposals.
“This is an important step to foster a culture of innovation at Island Health, and use innovation to transform the health system and meet our quality goals while ensuring equity and alignment with our C.A.R.E. values," says Graham Payette, executive director of innovation and architecture.
Innovation is a key priority for Island Health; it falls under Goal 3 in the strategic framework and is included as Goal 20 under Priority 6 in the annual plan.
As Payette notes, anyone can be an innovator. “Island Health is full of innovators and great ideas. In the past, though, how to best advance such ideas within the organization was sometimes a bit unclear," he says. “Now, we're excited to offer an entry point and pathway to support the development of ideas into on-the-ground solutions. The fuel for the Innovation Program is the experience, wisdom, passion and ideas that can come from everyone who works at and with Island Health."
The program focuses on providing supports when an idea or proposal isn't research-oriented and represents something new that may not have a clear development path forward. Perhaps more resources are required than the innovator alone can provide, or perhaps there are increased risks compared to more traditional quality improvement work. “In the face of such challenges, the program offers a systematic approach to advance an idea to a prototype and then to a trial – and hopefully on to implementation and making that idea operational across the organization," says Payette.
That said, Island Health encourages everyone to incorporate innovation and continuous quality improvement into their daily practice and projects – with or without the program's involvement. “We'd love to hear about an idea in case there is an opportunity to help spread and scale that work – but otherwise such work is considered essential and expected, and no one must engage with the Innovation Program to advance it," says Payette.
“If you are contemplating a quality improvement project – engage with Quality. Similarly, if you are contemplating a research project – engage with Research. If your initiative ends up needing innovation supports – the Quality, Research and Innovation programs meet regularly to ensure we are collaborating to support your success."
The Innovation site also includes a listing of Innovation Campaigns and Trials that are open for participation, including a couple of upcoming funding opportunities from the Ministry of Health Innovation Pathway program.
Other highlights include pages on Innovation Intake and Lifecycle Management, Innovation Consults and Support, Clinical Innovation and Innovation Resources.
For more on the Innovation Program, please visit A Culture of Hope: Innovation at Island Health.
Innovation is a key priority for Island Health and involves translating the input and ingenuity of our staff, physicians, partners and patients into new ideas and solutions that address health-care challenges and improve people's lives. Examples of innovation in action include Code Hack, sensor trials at Island Health washrooms that monitor for toxic drug poisonings, enhanced accessibility features for the future Cowichan District Hospital and the Cognitive Health Initiative, a visionary project focused on research and care for patients living with cognitive health issues.