Integration intrapreneurship: implementing innovation in a public healthcare organization

Abstract

Aim As global events impact the way organizations operate and innovate in response to regional, workforce and consumer needs, the concept of intrapreneurism is attracting growing interest from policymakers and executives, particularly within the healthcare sector. The aim of this study was to capture the key learnings from the implementation of a telementoring pilot, to understand how intrapreneurship can embed innovation within an established organization to effect more integrated healthcare. Purpose A qualitative approach was used with a phenomenological lens to explore the key learnings of the Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) pilot implementation to provide an understanding of what the project team’s strategies and tactics were during the process of embedding a new business innovation. The implementation and piloting of Project ECHO®, a telementoring model, in a large-scale public healthcare organization in Queensland, Australia, was investigated as an exemplar of integration intrapreneurship. Findings Through an inductive approach, this qualitative study found the implementation of the Project ECHO® pilot had specific dimensions and strategies/tactics which were exemplars of intrapreneurism. The organizational context and workforce characteristics described in this study presented new knowledge of how intrapreneurs implemented an innovation to address fragmentation of healthcare service delivery, professional isolation and instances of low-value care. This research contributes to a better understanding of the strategic and tactical approaches to implementing intrapreneurial innovations within a public healthcare organization, with learnings that can be adapted by intrapreneurs in other contexts.

South African public hospital intrapreneurship culture: Unit nurse managers’ governance role

“…Intrapreneurism as an evolving concept, coined by Pinchot in the eighties, is attracting growing interest from policymakers and healthcare executives (Pinchot 1985). Progressive scholars highly value intrapreneurship as a principle that could sustain high-quality and economically viable public health care services (Moss et al 2022). Successful implementation of the bottom-up intrapreneurial approach within public hospitals relies on the unique characteristic of nurse intrapreneurs who are emotionally intelligent, and having extensive networking skills enabling them to work in multiple organisational domains ranging from product development to strategy building (Eze et al 2018).…”

“…The enabling public hospital culture offers innovative team leaders who are not routinely inclined, to develop new products, services, administrative technologies, and strategies that improve the delivery of services (Letsie 2021;Gürsoy & Güven 2016). It is quite sensible for progressive public hospitals to nourish existing intrapreneurial talent sitting at the hub of evidence within units (Eze et al 2018;Moss et al 2022).…”

“…Global public health care constantly under pressure to deliver health care services of value should adopt meaningful strategies that effectively address current realities like economic pressures, advancing technology -such as Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) -as well as unprecedented pandemics like coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Chamba & Chaziren 2023;Moss, Hartley & Russels 2022;Nalubega & Uwizeyimana 2019). The rapid technological advancement and innovation, disruptive in nature, transforming socio-economic and political systems, challenge public healthcare policymakers and institutional leadership to consider new approaches like intrapreneurship, ensuring economic sustainability (Moss et al 2022;Nalubega & Uwizeyimana 2019). The preferred strategy has numerous benefits, like the development of new products, services, technologies, improved business strategies, and advanced administrative techniques (Chamba & Chaziren 2023;Moss et al 2022).…”

“…The rapid technological advancement and innovation, disruptive in nature, transforming socio-economic and political systems, challenge public healthcare policymakers and institutional leadership to consider new approaches like intrapreneurship, ensuring economic sustainability (Moss et al 2022;Nalubega & Uwizeyimana 2019). The preferred strategy has numerous benefits, like the development of new products, services, technologies, improved business strategies, and advanced administrative techniques (Chamba & Chaziren 2023;Moss et al 2022). leadership and governance are needed, to pave the way for a favourable innovative culture within the reforming public hospitals (Ndebele et al 2021).…”

“…Lastly, the miscellaneous activities constitute about 11.8% (Armstrong et al 2015). The crucial contribution of public hospitals' intrapreneurial unit nurses in improving public hospital culture positions them as transformative stakeholders using their extensive clinical and theoretical knowledge and skills to deliver quality improved care (Moss et al 2022). Their professional competency, humanitarian, and ethical obligation hold them accountable to integrate improved modalities bringing desired change in patient care (Moss et al 2022).…”