THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HEALTHCARE INNOVATION ADOPTION READINESS ASSESSMENT TOOL (HIARAT)

• Published in: South African journal of industrial engineering Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 147 - 170
• Main Authors: Leonard, Elizabeth, De Kock, Imke, Bam, Wouter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Bedfordview South African Institute for Industrial Engineering 01.05.2019; The Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering; Stellenbosch University
• Subjects: Engineering, Industrial; Government spending; Health care; Health care facilities; Health facilities; healthcare; innovation; innovation adoption; Innovations; Medical research; R&D; Research & development; Telemedicine; Total quality; New York; South Africa
• ISSN: 2224-7890; 1012-277X; 2224-7890
• DOI: 10.7166/30-1-2013

A disconnect exists between innovations and the adoption of such innovations, specifically within healthcare facilities. This disconnect results in various healthcare challenges - ones that could be addressed by successfully adopting and integrating an innovation into organisational processes - not being addressed. To address the challenge of innovation adoption within healthcare, it is proposed that a tool be developed to identify areas that should be addressed to improve the chances of the successful adoption and integration of innovations into existing systems in a public healthcare facility. By assessing a facility's readiness for innovation adoption, it is possible to identify the barriers to the successful adoption of innovations. Knowing what such challenges or barriers to innovation adoption are will allow role players to address these challenges or barriers. The purpose of this paper is to develop the healthcare innovation adoption readiness assessment tool (HIARAT), which measures the maturity of a healthcare facility's innovation adoption process. The HIARAT was validated through a face validation workshop, and through a case study at a South African public healthcare facility.