Innovation Contest and Employee Work Experience in Primary Care.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Primary Care Innovation

Background:

• High burnout and turnover rates in US primary care necessitate interventions to improve work environments.
• Innovation contests provide a structured framework for employee idea generation and organizational problem-solving.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between an innovation contest and work experiences among primary care staff.
• To assess the impact of contest awareness and idea implementation on staff perceptions.

Main Methods:

• A health system's primary care network invited all 778 employees to submit and vote on improvement ideas.
• Senior leaders implemented selected ideas, followed by a survey measuring feeling heard, organizational identification, job satisfaction, and burnout.

Main Results:

• Awareness of the innovation contest correlated with increased organizational identification.
• Observing the implementation of winning ideas was linked to higher reported levels of feeling heard, identification, and job satisfaction.
• Mere participation (submitting or voting) did not show a significant association with improved outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Acting on employee-generated ideas in primary care settings can significantly improve workplace engagement and job satisfaction.
• Innovation contests, particularly when leading to tangible changes, may be an effective strategy to foster a more positive and supportive work environment in primary care.