Process innovation in health care: A new model for the new knowledge economy

Health systems around the world are faced with the challenge of improving the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of service delivery. Pasmore defines organisational technology as consisting of the tools, techniques, devices, artefacts, methods, configurations, procedures and knowledge used to acquire inputs, transform inputs to outputs and provide services to clients. Socio-technical theory provides a framework to examine the adaptation of new technology into the organisational routines for the delivery of clinical care. A recent review conducted by the NHS Research and Development Health Technology Assessment Programme (HTAP) highlights the flaws in the existing research and development model of clinical care technologies. The principle of emergent competition provides the foundation for a new model of process innovation for clinical care technology. The durable technology sector in health care, through a combination of intellectual property rights and regulatory requirements for proof of effectiveness has produced an extraordinary flow of new effective technologies.