tend to build on nonlocal patient data, which does not accurately reflect the clinical
setting. We should foresee future interoperable data platforms able to bring actionable clinical patient information together from disparate data sources, including
electronic medical records, lab systems, pathology, and genomics. Although we
are at the beginning of our journey into precision medicine, we believe that AI will
help clinicians to find insights in the staggering amount of information produced by
an individual patient, including their lifestyle, behaviors, physical characteristics,
and multiple genetic and nongenetic biomarkers, as well as personal preferences.
Ultimately, we believe this will support an integrated, dynamic healthcare system,
in which the patient is a central stakeholder who contributes data and participates
actively in shared decision-making. It will allow clinicians at any given time to make
a well-informed, confident diagnosis, and—together with the patient—make responsible decisions about the care pathway, designed to yield the best patient outcome.
3 Conclusion
This research investigates the dynamic relationship between health informatics and
medical professionals, now and in the future. Drawing upon evolutionary economics
and innovation literatures, we propose a co-innovation model that supports the
emergence of technology-oriented innovations in the medical device industry.
First, we suggest that the triad interaction— patient, medical user, and technological
change—embedded in the clinical innovation process is the pivotal factor of the
innovation itself. Secondly, our research contributes to describe, in a detailed way,
the underlying innovation process as a service innovation function, where we define
innovation as a service co-creation between heterogeneous agents, namely patients,
firm managers, and medical doctors.
Medical innovation is a practice variation to heal patients by improving diagnostic and treatments procedures, fueled by the variability of patients and diseases and
supported by technological change, specifically in health informatics.
Faced with an aging population, increasing incidence of multiple chronic diseases, innovative technologies and new powerful drugs, and an unsustainable cost
pressure, healthcare stakeholders agree that our global health systems could be
improved. Today’s healthcare delivery is fragmented, with high levels of clinical
waste and unexplained variance in treatment and outcomes—repeat procedures,
gaps in information, and long waiting times tell the story of overburdened and
under-resourced hospitals. Adding to the challenge are worryingly high staff burnout
rates, administrative complexity, and excessive and widely varying prices.
Another complicating factor: our healthcare systems tend to place their focus on
acute and emergency episodes—there are limited existing financial incentives for
prevention, longitudinal chronic disease management, and population health. Add
access constraints and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles in developing and industrialized countries to this mix, and it is clear that healthcare delivery and financing need
to change. As a priority, the global healthcare community is urgently seeking
122
J. Galbrun
setting. We should foresee future interoperable data platforms able to bring actionable clinical patient information together from disparate data sources, including
electronic medical records, lab systems, pathology, and genomics. Although we
are at the beginning of our journey into precision medicine, we believe that AI will
help clinicians to find insights in the staggering amount of information produced by
an individual patient, including their lifestyle, behaviors, physical characteristics,
and multiple genetic and nongenetic biomarkers, as well as personal preferences.
Ultimately, we believe this will support an integrated, dynamic healthcare system,
in which the patient is a central stakeholder who contributes data and participates
actively in shared decision-making. It will allow clinicians at any given time to make
a well-informed, confident diagnosis, and—together with the patient—make responsible decisions about the care pathway, designed to yield the best patient outcome.
3 Conclusion
This research investigates the dynamic relationship between health informatics and
medical professionals, now and in the future. Drawing upon evolutionary economics
and innovation literatures, we propose a co-innovation model that supports the
emergence of technology-oriented innovations in the medical device industry.
First, we suggest that the triad interaction— patient, medical user, and technological
change—embedded in the clinical innovation process is the pivotal factor of the
innovation itself. Secondly, our research contributes to describe, in a detailed way,
the underlying innovation process as a service innovation function, where we define
innovation as a service co-creation between heterogeneous agents, namely patients,
firm managers, and medical doctors.
Medical innovation is a practice variation to heal patients by improving diagnostic and treatments procedures, fueled by the variability of patients and diseases and
supported by technological change, specifically in health informatics.
Faced with an aging population, increasing incidence of multiple chronic diseases, innovative technologies and new powerful drugs, and an unsustainable cost
pressure, healthcare stakeholders agree that our global health systems could be
improved. Today’s healthcare delivery is fragmented, with high levels of clinical
waste and unexplained variance in treatment and outcomes—repeat procedures,
gaps in information, and long waiting times tell the story of overburdened and
under-resourced hospitals. Adding to the challenge are worryingly high staff burnout
rates, administrative complexity, and excessive and widely varying prices.
Another complicating factor: our healthcare systems tend to place their focus on
acute and emergency episodes—there are limited existing financial incentives for
prevention, longitudinal chronic disease management, and population health. Add
access constraints and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles in developing and industrialized countries to this mix, and it is clear that healthcare delivery and financing need
to change. As a priority, the global healthcare community is urgently seeking
122
J. Galbrun