Trialability, observability and risk reduction accelerating individual innovation adoption decisions
Journal of Health Organization and Management
ISSN: 1477-7266
Article publication date: 13 April 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective analysis of computer simulation’s role in accelerating individual innovation adoption decisions. The process innovation examined is Lean Systems Thinking, and the organizational context is the imaging department of an Australian public hospital.
Design/methodology/approach
Intrinsic case study methods including observation, interviews with radiology and emergency personnel about scheduling procedures, mapping patient appointment processes and document analysis were used over three years and then complemented with retrospective interviews with key hospital staff. The multiple data sources and methods were combined in a pragmatic and reflexive manner to explore an extreme case that provides potential to act as an instructive template for effective change.
Findings
Computer simulation of process change ideas offered by staff to improve patient-flow accelerated the adoption of the process changes, largely because animated computer simulation permitted experimentation (trialability), provided observable predictions of change results (observability) and minimized perceived risk.
Research limitations/implications
The difficulty of making accurate comparisons between time periods in a health care setting is acknowledged.
Practical implications
This work has implications for policy, practice and theory, particularly for inducing the rapid diffusion of process innovations to address challenges facing health service organizations and national health systems.
Originality/value
The research demonstrates the value of animated computer simulation in presenting the need for change, identifying options, and predicting change outcomes and is the first work to indicate the importance of trialability, observability and risk reduction in individual adoption decisions in health services.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research reported in this document was funded by an Australian Research Council Grant, Project number: ARC LP 0989219. Ethics approval for this research has been granted by the South Western Sydney Local Health District (HREC 2007/150) and by the University of Western Sydney (HREC 08/012).
Citation
Hayes, K.J., Eljiz, K., Dadich, A., Fitzgerald, J.-A. and Sloan, T. (2015), "Trialability, observability and risk reduction accelerating individual innovation adoption decisions", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 271-294. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-08-2013-0171
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited