(Management Case Study) Partnering with an Innovation Center to Implement Design Thinking Across the Health System

Purpose: ASHP's Practice Advancement Initiative 2030 highlights the importance of collaboration between health systems and innovation centers to catalyze change in pharmacy practice and patient care. This case describes the methods by which partnership with a center for pharmacy innovation at a school of pharmacy was used to introduce health system pharmacy and nursing leaders to design thinking, an approach to innovative problem-solving.

Methods: A training event focused on design thinking was planned in collaboration with a health system, an innovation center associated with a local school of pharmacy, and innovation thought leaders with design thinking experience. Members of the planning team included the network pharmacy executive director, the director of the Center for Pharmacy Innovation at the school, the associate dean of research at the school, and faculty from an industrial design program. A training program agenda, learning materials, facilitator guide, and field guide were created in preparation for the event. The one-day training was held at the school of pharmacy and included instruction on design thinking and several exercises to reinforce the application of these concepts to real-world scenarios. All members of the health system pharmacy leadership team were invited to attend along with nursing leadership of infusion centers. To assess the effectiveness and applicability of the design thinking training event to healthcare innovation, the perceptions of participants were collected using a web-based five-item survey. The survey contained two five-point Likert scale questions and three open-ended questions.

Results: Twenty-five pharmacy and nursing leaders from the health system attended the design thinking training event along with six faculty members from the school of pharmacy and one innovator from another collaborating innovation center. After an introductory session on the concepts of design thinking, participants were divided into teams with a facilitator. Each team was charged with identifying ways to enhance the student learning experience at the partner university by applying the principles of design thinking. At the end of the event, all groups presented their innovations to other participants and a panel of students that provided feedback to each group. Of the 32 participants, 16 (50%) completed the survey following the event. All respondents felt that the training event impacted or greatly impacted their future approach to problem-solving and innovation. The importance of idea generation and listening to the perspectives of others were identified as the two most applicable tools for implementation in practice.

Conclusion: Design thinking can be an effective approach to fostering innovation and creative problem-solving in healthcare. Additionally, partnerships between health systems, schools of pharmacy, and innovation centers are effective in providing education to pharmacy and healthcare leaders about novel approaches to innovation. Collaboration between health systems and innovation centers should be expanded to foster meaningful healthcare innovation that enhances patient care.