Innovation in healthcare: yes, there are challenges, but there are also opportunities – Healthcare in Public

Ivisen Lourenço

A study of the “The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)”, the research and risk analysis division of “The Economist” magazine, indicates that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation in companies by 72%, in addition to stimulating the creation and development of new ones. startups No brazil.

In relation to the Health area, the country already had, in May 2021, 430 startups in the sector, a growth of 118% in two years. In this process, adherence to telemedicine during the pandemic was essential, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT).

However, putting innovation into practice is not that simple. The 4th edition of the “Ace Innovation Survey” by corporate innovation consultancy ACE Cortex, reveals that, despite being a priority for 85% of companies, only 36% have an adequate structure to develop new ideas in their corporate environments. In health, these numbers are even lower.

Innovation bottlenecks

I’m 2021, o Global Innovation Index showed that nations with high Human Development Indices (HDI), such as Switzerland, Sweden and the USA, lead the ranking of innovative countries. Brazil, the thirteenth largest economy in the world, is only in 57th place among 126 countries.

More than simply adopting technologies, it is necessary to act efficiently to streamline processes, which may require cultural change and training. Particularly, healthcare has longer innovation cycles, due to requirements inherent to the sector. It is not just about buying software and hardware, but operating them so that they deliver agility, assertiveness and security in results for all stakeholders involved in hospitals and clinics.

It is also necessary to consider challenges that today directly impact Health:

• regulatory requirements of the sector: the area is extremely affected by the regulation of medicines, equipment, services and supplies. Adapting to changes in this environment is a great challenge – so much so that the regtechs, startups that help companies adapt to these changes. Of the 309 regtechs Brazilians, 25 are focused on health and life sciences;

• Developing and maintaining intellectual capital takes time and investment: creativity and experiences do not develop overnight. At the same time, there is the devaluation and flight of human capital towards more developed centers of innovation.

• technological difficulties, especially interoperability: one solution does not work with another and, therefore, blocks flows and delays results. Extremely advanced and well-developed systems already exist, especially for intensive care, but the concern of brands and manufacturers in making them in a way that optimizes collaboration does not seem to be the focus. It’s not about integration: one doesn’t need to depend on the other’s technology, but work together.

Importance of the culture of innovation

On the other hand, now, more than ever, is not the time to stop. The pandemic has left a pent-up demand for tests and treatments. Thousands of diagnoses stopped being made early in the world. We will have waves of more advanced diseases being identified in the coming months or years – especially those that do not bring symptoms and depend on routine monitoring.

A CNI survey it also reinforces that innovation is not only a competitive benefit, but also a survival benefit. The culture of innovation is associated with values, norms and attitudes that stimulate thinking, so that innovations can develop.

There is no lack of markets and sectors that face daily obstacles and need innovative solutions in their processes and flows, such as healthcare. It is possible to improve people’s lives, costs and the routines of companies and organizations betting on the technology used. It is possible to take care of the well-being, finances, the future of entire cities; make the world more palatable and humane using technology – with wisdom and assertiveness.

Ivisen Lourenço he is a Design Thinker and healthcare systems administrator with experience based on over 10 years of experience in hospital management. He is currently Head of Open Innovation at InovaHC.