Developing a Model of Sustainable Innovation in Public Hospitals Using Grounded Theory

Introduction: Today, sustainable innovation is recognized as a way to gain a competitive advantage and solve social and environmental problems. The aim of this study was to developing a model of sustainable innovation in public hospitals in Tehran using Grounded Theory in public hospitals in Tehran.  Methods: The present study is a qualitative study that was performed by Grounded Theory method. Experts of public hospitals in Tehran (physicians, hospital managers, deputy director of development and support and administrative assistants) were considered as the population of this study. A combination of targeted method and snowball was used to select the sample. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews with 11 experts familiar with the topic of sustainability innovation. The validity of the instruments was determined by external audits and the reliability was determined by Holsti Test and the data were analyzed through open, axial and selective coding. Results: The model of sustainable innovation in hospitals was developed in 6 components, 25 subcomponents and 84 concepts. Subcomponents include: causal conditions such as political stability, economic stability, stability of laws and cultural stability, background conditions include internal environment dynamics, staff dynamics, vision and awareness dynamics, and infrastructure dynamics, intervention conditions include macro environment conditions, organizational conditions and capabilities, and infrastructure conditions, axial phenomena include environmental monitoring and management, social monitoring and management, economic monitoring and management, strategies include health-oriented, quality and up-to-date services, keeping pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, attention to design and architecture, crisis preparedness, bio-imitation and pollution management, outcomes were categorized into tangible community outcomes, intangible community outcomes, tangible hospital outcomes, and intangible hospital outcomes.  Conclusions: The final model indicates that the 6 components, 25 subcomponents, can provide sustainable innovation in public hospitals. It is suggested that hospital officials, considering the model developed, provide a suitable platform for the development of sustainable innovation in hospitals.