1. What two factors encourage the diffusion of an innovation? Why? What can be done to encourage these two factors?

Textbook (answer is from textbook):

Diffusion of Healthcare Creativity and Innovation

Not only are creativity and innovation important to every healthcare organi- zation, but their widespread diffusionboth nationally and internationally is also critical for improving overall patient outcomes and addressing health- care costs. Most of the progress in health improvement in the second half of the twentieth century can be traced to the diffusion of innovations through public health and medical channels (Rust et al. 2010). However, much of the innovative medical technology adopted over the years has also been a major driver in increasing medical costs. Many healthcare innovations may only narrowly improve the performance of diagnoses and treatment, but dramatically affect costs. As shown in the box, eculizumab provided better medical treatment for patients,but at an extremely high cost. In addition, most healthcare innovations, even potentially effective ones, fail to be commonly accepted (Cahan, Kocher, and Bohn 2020). Therefore, new technology alone will not suffice to improve healthcare; a new wave of all types of innovationsand their diffusionis required to open access to high-quality, low-cost care.

While we define diffusion and explain its process in detail later in this section, some background is helpful at this point in the discussion. When we talk about diffusion, we mean that these innovative solutions must be not only locally discovered but also disseminated nationally or globally. Necessary changes defy simple solutions, and innovative designs are critical.

Newly created knowledge and innovations frequently are slow to spread across a healthcare community. Yet, at times medical professionals rush to adoption, based on limited evidence (Balas and Chapman 2018). Although many astonishing advances have occurred, concerns have been raised that the time required to diffuse innovations across healthcare systems is far too long and that most innovations ultimately fail to diffuse across their potential users (Darzi and Parston 2013; Dearing and Cox 2018). To promote diffusion, organizations such as the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) seek to promote and disseminate innovative evidence-based ideas and practices. To this end, the organization has sponsored forums (including an annual meeting), research, and reports, some of which help identify and document global innovations. Some of the many healthcare innovations WISH helped to promote and spread through their 2020 Virtual WISH event include:

• A DNA data bank to give individuals full control of their genomic data
• A solar-powered suitcase designed to provide lighting, communication, and power for small medical devices and emergency care in remote areas
• A smart assistant to help people who are blind recognize objects and other people
• An MRI simulation using virtual reality to prepare children for an MRI
• An affordable dialysis system that distills its own sterile water

Diffusion of healthcare innovation is complicated and facilitated by many issues. Two important factors that encourage adoption of new technology are (1) the perceived ease of use of the technology and (2) its perceived usefulness by its stakeholders (Thakur, Hsu, and Fontenot 2012). Stakehold- ers in healthcare may be the providers, managers, regulators, or patients. These people first need to be exposed to and learn about new technology, as its perceived ease and benefit of use is related to their knowledge of and experience with it (Walston, Bennett, and Al-Harbi 2014). Assuming a positive interaction, the more stakeholders are exposed to an innovation, the more likely it is to be adopted.