Oslo University Hospital, Induct announce long term strategic partnership Agreement

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Oslo University Hospital and Induct Software™ AS (Induct), "The Open Innovation Company™," today announced a long term strategic partnership Agreement under which the parties will work together to help Oslo University Hospital achieve its goal of becoming the world leader in healthcare innovation.

Oslo University Hospital was formed by the merger of Rikshospitalet (The National Hospital), Ullevaal University Hospital, and Aker University Hospital. With 24,000 employees, the new Oslo University Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Europe, with a yearly operating budget of 17B NOK ($2.6B).

Oslo University Hospital has a rich history of innovation and is currently establishing a complete infrastructure for innovation. Its "Clinic of Innovation" has helped to build an internationally recognized culture of innovation that reaches from the hospital’s boardroom to workers at every level, and even involves external constituents such as vendors and suppliers. Oslo University Hospital is also part of an EU-funded regional healthcare innovation zone that includes major hospitals in Sweden and Denmark.

Open Innovation Partnership

Under the terms of the Agreement, Oslo University Hospital will work with Induct to ensure that Induct’s Web-based innovation management service meets the specialized needs of healthcare professionals at every level.

Induct revolutionizes the way that companies think about innovation. Based on the pioneering work of UC Berkeley Professor Henry Chesbrough, author of the book ‘Open Innovation,’ and one of the acknowledged leaders in the open innovation field, Induct integrates Enterprise 2.0 technology and social networking concepts with a flexible and customizable innovation process management framework. The result is a ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) platform that allows organizations to easily practice open innovation through the creation of virtual Innovation Communities.

"We are dedicated to exploiting the potential for innovation of Norway’s public health sector, primarily through user-driven and employee-driven innovation," said Professor Kari Kvaerner, Innovation Director, Oslo University Hospital. "The merger of the hospitals has three primary goals; to improve the quality of care we provide for our patients, increased operational efficiency, and improvements in the region’s public health sector. To help achieve these goals, and to facilitate our transition to a more open innovation environment, the Hospital will be deploying a new platform for innovation cooperation based on Induct to our employees. The creativity of 24,000 employees in combination with software that facilitates structured implementation of ideas holds great promise. We also believe we will realize significant cost savings from the increased levels of innovation, collaboration, and information sharing achieved through the Induct Innovation Community."

Norway Calls for Coordination Reform

Bjarne Hakon Hanssen, Norway’s former Minister of Health and Social Affairs, has stated, "I have one central aim as Minister of Health. I want to improve coordination and cooperation between the different health service providers…We are among the countries spending the most on health and social services in the world. One fourth of our national budget is spent on health.

Our hospital budget has doubled over the last seven years. However, we do not get enough health care in return. The analysis is simple; how do we get more health for the money we spend?…In my view there is a serious lack of coordination between hospitals and primary health care. There is a lack of coordination in all segments of the health care services. There is insufficient contact between municipalities and the hospitals; between the municipalities; within the municipalities; and within the hospitals. This needs to be addressed."

"Norway’s Minister of Health has stated that ‘Norway spends the most money in the world on health, but does not get the most health in return for each Krone.’ He has presented a new health reform program calling for increased levels of coordination and cooperation between hospitals and municipalities, and has asked how technology can help improve the situation," continued Kari Kvaerner. "Oslo University Hospital’s intention is to become the world leader in healthcare innovation. Today we are taking another important step towards that goal by making Induct’s open innovation management system available to all employees. We believe that through the use of Induct’s virtual Innovation Communities, we will start to address these important public healthcare issues, and be able to deliver better healthcare with less cost."

"Coordination and cooperation issues have been identified in countries, municipalities, and hospitals worldwide as one of the root causes of healthcare delivery inefficiency," said Alf Martin Johansen, Chairman and founder of Induct Software, AS. "Our ongoing partnership with a healthcare innovation leader like Oslo University Hospital ensures that Induct will continue to offer the best possible solution for innovation management in healthcare and other important industry sectors."