Innovation Bazaar: Organizing the Exchange of Hospitals' Local IT Innovations

During the last decades, the software for supporting hospitals’ information systems became more flexible in terms of adaptability and configurability. Some hospitals use these capabilities to create local IT innovations. However, information on these local IT innovations is rarely available, as a preceding Grounded Theory based study revealed. To tackle this shortcoming, a two year action research project with a major German hospital software vendor and its leading customers was conducted. In a first stage, information on local IT innovations among the vendor’s leading customers was gathered and shared. In a second stage, a new position at the IT vendor (called ‘innovation bazaar’) was established to organize the exchange of information about these local IT innovations. As a result of the hospitals’ positive feedback, the vendor is willing to make this exchange sustainable. It expects valuable input for product development, professional service and sales.