Innovation Programs Match Need With Speed in Hospital Rapid-Cycle Improvement Efforts

The simple fact is that hospitals that do not innovate today may not be solvent tomorrow. Although not every hospital has a budget for a million-dollar innovation laboratory, a pop-up innovation lab can be set up for less than $1,000 with materials available at a local superstore. In 2014, Drs. Ibata and Olver visited leading innovation labs to identify best practices for curricula and materials. The site visits were funded by a grant to support the development of a rapid-cycle innovation training program. The lessons learned are shared here with sample agendas and material lists to set up a low-cost innovation lab. This article also describes half-day and full-day rapid-cycle innovation workshops. These workshops combine design thinking and the rapid-cycle plan-do-check-act improvement method with improvisational theater games to arrive at outside-the-box solutions to intractable healthcare delivery problems.