Page 7 - Mass General Brigham - Innovators Guide 1.2

7 INNO V AT O RS GUIDE | M ASS GENERAL BRIGH AM

1
Defining the

1 innovation pathway

Mass General Brigham is committed to making breakthroughs widespread Innovation and invention
across the continuum of care. Innovation is a high priority in every phase
of system activity. Mass General Brigham collaborates with industry to Innovation is a way of thinking to solve problems and often enable the
grow the clinical and commercial impact of its breakthroughs. The unit creation of commercial value. As Thomas Edison famously said, “the value
charged with realization of that vision is Innovation. Its mission is to pair of an idea lies in the using of it.”
Mass General Brigham’s technological excellence with industry to drive The result of innovative thinking expresses itself in many fashions. From a
breakthroughs into patient benefiting products and generate new revenue commercial standpoint, it can be a product (including materials, devices,
to advance the System’s research enterprise. tools etc.), a system, a manufacturing process, or algorithm. Innovations
This document was developed to guide inventors and innovators through can lead to products by addressing a specific problem, demonstrating its
the commercialization process and to streamline their interactions along importance and establishing that someone is willing to pay for it.
the way. Achieving successful commercial outcomes Mass General Brigham provides an environment that
that transcend the boundaries between the academic Expanding the pool enables and rewards staff driven innovation. There are
and industrial sectors, given their different missions and many mechanisms and units to help staff recognize
cultures, requires a shared understanding of processes, of innovators is a innovative concepts, nurture innovations that improve care
priorities and challenges. This guide attempts to clarify and System priority. and act to implement them. For more than two centuries
prepare innovators for their commercialization journey. the System and its predecessors have prized innovation
Expanding the pool of innovators is a System priority. and today relies on it to meet
its core missions to provide care, teach, perform research and
Relatively low participation rates among women, clinicians, under support its communities.
represented minorities and early career faculty deprive medicine of
innovations that might benefit patients. Innovation runs a set of programs, While its thousands of Harvard Medical School faculty are an unmatched
described later in this guide, designed to increase staff participation in engine of discovery, Mass General Brigham also recognizes that actionable
each of the areas. innovation can occur in any element of the world’s health care community
where need and inspiration intersect. Recognizing, adopting and
Please note, for narrative brevity, the guide refers organizationally to the complementing external innovation is also key to the System’s success.
Mass General Brigham system and does not call out individual hospitals or
entities. Readers should be aware that the structure of the system means An “invention” is a novel device, method, composition or process. The
that many legal rights rest discretely with the hospitals. essence of invention is to create something that has not existed before. In
contrast, “innovation” occurs if someone creates, improves on an existing
product, process or service. Innovation often flows from invention.