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Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation (GDHI)
2013

Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation (GDHI)

Professor The Lord Darzi PC, KBE, FRS and Greg Parston PhD

This report profiles eight countries around the world from: Australia, Brazil, England, India, Qatar, South Africa, Spain and the US and examines their varying environmental/ cultural climates to understand and compare specific health enablers that support positive change.

Executive Summary

Unlocking the benefits of healthcare innovations involves scaling those innovations up so that they can be used to improve health outcomes for the many, rather than the few. Our new research into the Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation (GDHI) aims to provoke discussion and debate amongst healthcare leaders worldwide about what can be done to encourage the spread of innovation and contribute to system transformation in healthcare. It presents a global assessment of the factors that support the spread of healthcare innovation and how these are at play in eight very different countries’ health systems: Australia, Brazil, England, India, Qatar, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

Our research draws on over 100 personal interviews with senior-level experts who were able to give an overview of their healthcare systems, as well as quantitative surveys of more than 1,500 healthcare professionals and more than 750 industry professionals from the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical technology.

The study examines the importance and prevalence of a set of specific enablers and cultural dynamics (or organizational behaviors) as they are applied in the eight countries. These enablers and cultural dynamics were first identified as a framework for the diffusion of healthcare innovation by the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI), Imperial College London.