Matthew Warrens–(Jump Trading)–Inspirational quotes line the walls of Jump, but there’s one that sticks out to me as OSF HealthCare makes innovation a core component of its business model: “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” Those words were uttered by Albert Einstein. They are words I hope resonate throughout the Ministry as we come up with ways to make health care more efficient and less costly.
OSF wants employees to be part of this process. We are creating a culture of innovation where staff feels empowered to submit ideas that are outside the box—the more absurd, the better.
Tapping into the minds of all of our Mission Partners, from the clinicians to our hospitality personnel, could lead to answers leadership hasn’t considered. If we bring these diverse sets of skills together, the possibilities are endless.
The ultimate goal is to churn out our own new technologies and devices that can be licensed and sold to health care providers around the world.
Connecting with Emerging Solutions
There is also no shortage of new ideas, technology, and devices outside of the Ministry that improve health care. OSF is keeping a finger on the pulse of advances in the ever-evolving world of the industry that could elevate the service we provide.
We are partnering with incubators and accelerators to identify ideas we can invest in and adopt in our clinical environments. Investing early allows us to customize these technology platforms and devices for implementation across the Ministry.
A great example of this is our partnership with AVIA—a health technology accelerator. This company streamlines the process of evaluating emerging solutions for health care organizations. AVIA narrows the field of early stage companies and presents them to a small group of like-minded providers looking to solve the same types of problems. This cohort then chooses businesses with technology platforms or devices that have the best potential to transform care.
There are opportunities for OSF to financially invest in these companies, but more importantly we’re gaining access to solutions faster than we’ve ever been able to do before. It ensures we’re part of the innovation process from the ground floor.
Investing to Sustain the Mission
Investing in innovation is a completely different type of business we’re involved in at OSF, but it’s a crucial part of transforming health care. It provides an alternative source of revenue as we largely transition away from the fee-for-service reimbursement model. It creates opportunities to choose and generate the best solutions to health care’s biggest issues. But most importantly, it’s critical to sustaining the Mission of OSF.
