How to Cite This Document:
10 IHI Innovations to Improve Health and Health Care. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2017. (Available at www.ihi.org)
In 2006, IHI made a formal commitment to innovation by establishing a Research and Development team and a process to consistently produce new thinking that would challenge the entrenched models that result in low-value, poor-quality care.
To do this, we employed a classic innovation technique: Looking outside of health care, we studied the work of leading innovators from the fields of industry, manufacturing, and energy. We borrowed and adapted, and built a systematic approach to creating new knowledge — sequential 90-day “waves” of projects to tackle vexing questions raised by our partners, our communities, and our patients.
This curated publication highlights 10 ideas that have emerged from that systematic approach, and reshaped how and what IHI has committed itself to over the years. Within this document, you will find reflections on the Triple Aim, the concept of a health care Campaign, the Breakthrough Series Collaborative model, and other frameworks and fresh thinking that have been replicated around the world.
The leaders behind these concepts reflect on the trajectory of each innovation — where it has been, what challenges it still faces, and what potential it has to improve health and care in the future.
