EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
Case 1: What is health technological innovation
Learning goals
1. Definitions
a. technology
b. innovation
c. health technological innovation and different types
i. (How does it differ from normal technology definition?)
2. Positive/negative effects
a. Technology
b. health technology
3. Advantages/Disadvantages (health technological innovation)
a. How does health technology shape the future?
4. Characteristics and features of health technology
5. What are current health technology innovations?
a. different countries - different innovations?
6. What is the role of health technology innovations in Europe?
7. What are the drivers for innovation?
8. Discussion: How did you use the (health-) technology? Are there any changes you could
recognize?
1. Definitions
a. technology
- Schon (1967): any tool or technique, any product or process, any physical equipment or
method of doing or making by which human capability is extended
- Oslo Manual: the whole complex of knowledge, skills, routines, competence, equipment, and
engineering practice
- Criticism
o By aggregating task, technique, knowledge, and tools into a single construct -
technology - interaction among these constituting components and with humans is
ignored
- Technology is socially constructed: human agency influences our actions and understanding
of technology because we affect the way technology is used and evolves, and thus the
factors that enable or inhibit technological innovation
- technology forms part of a 'socio technical system'- a system where people, organizations,
and technologies interact and its role is subject to the process of 'social construction', where
understandings of the world and shared assumptions about reality are jointly constructed by
individuals
1
,EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
- 4 dimensions of technology (Mitcham 1994)
o Knowledge
o Activity
o Objects
o Volition
- Hard technologies: tangible artefacts such as computers or mobile phones
- Soft technologies: knowledge how those artefacts work
o Systems of thoughts, practice, and action that facilitate the achievement of explicit
aims
- Technology determinism: when certain developments of technology are predetermined
o Hard to change
o Once it starts it may not be easy to reverse
b. Innovation
- Definition – innovation
o Can refer to an outcome: objects or products
o Can refer to the processes: by which these are developed
- Kimble (2017)
o Associated with new developments in the field that allow for improvements in
solving problems
o Denotes new, better, more effective ways of solving problems
o Term has been used to describe policies, systems, technologies, ideas, services and
products that provide solutions to existing healthcare problems
2
,EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
Three ways to classify innovation:
1) Their scope is their degree of novelty how new they
are
2) Their form or application (product, process, service)
a. Products: tangible physical objects that are
acquired and then used by consumers
b. Services: intangible things (e.g. banking,
education, and health-care) whether the
consumer benefits from the service, but does
not actually acquire an object
c. Processes: equipment, methods, systems used
by producers of products or services
3) Their innovativeness (how much change compared to
current norm)
3
, EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
- Demand for an innovation:
o Pushed by the developers – previously no demand
o Pulled by some kind of expressed demand
health technological innovation and different types
i. (How does it differ from normal technology definition?)
- WHO definition health innovation: improves the efficiency, effectiveness, quality,
sustainability, safety, and/or affordability of healthcare
o This definition includes ‘new or improved’ health policies, practices, systems,
products and technologies, services, and delivery methods that result in improved
healthcare
o Improvements in research, patient satisfaction, education, and access to care are
additional factors
- the ultimate goal of health innovation is to improve our ability to meet public and personal
healthcare needs and demands by optimizing the performance of the health system
- innovations in healthcare should yield scalable solutions and improvements in health
policies, systems, products, technologies, services, and delivery methods, in order to improve
treatment, diagnosis, education, outreach, prevention, research quality and delivery, and
access to healthcare
4
Case 1: What is health technological innovation
Learning goals
1. Definitions
a. technology
b. innovation
c. health technological innovation and different types
i. (How does it differ from normal technology definition?)
2. Positive/negative effects
a. Technology
b. health technology
3. Advantages/Disadvantages (health technological innovation)
a. How does health technology shape the future?
4. Characteristics and features of health technology
5. What are current health technology innovations?
a. different countries - different innovations?
6. What is the role of health technology innovations in Europe?
7. What are the drivers for innovation?
8. Discussion: How did you use the (health-) technology? Are there any changes you could
recognize?
1. Definitions
a. technology
- Schon (1967): any tool or technique, any product or process, any physical equipment or
method of doing or making by which human capability is extended
- Oslo Manual: the whole complex of knowledge, skills, routines, competence, equipment, and
engineering practice
- Criticism
o By aggregating task, technique, knowledge, and tools into a single construct -
technology - interaction among these constituting components and with humans is
ignored
- Technology is socially constructed: human agency influences our actions and understanding
of technology because we affect the way technology is used and evolves, and thus the
factors that enable or inhibit technological innovation
- technology forms part of a 'socio technical system'- a system where people, organizations,
and technologies interact and its role is subject to the process of 'social construction', where
understandings of the world and shared assumptions about reality are jointly constructed by
individuals
1
,EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
- 4 dimensions of technology (Mitcham 1994)
o Knowledge
o Activity
o Objects
o Volition
- Hard technologies: tangible artefacts such as computers or mobile phones
- Soft technologies: knowledge how those artefacts work
o Systems of thoughts, practice, and action that facilitate the achievement of explicit
aims
- Technology determinism: when certain developments of technology are predetermined
o Hard to change
o Once it starts it may not be easy to reverse
b. Innovation
- Definition – innovation
o Can refer to an outcome: objects or products
o Can refer to the processes: by which these are developed
- Kimble (2017)
o Associated with new developments in the field that allow for improvements in
solving problems
o Denotes new, better, more effective ways of solving problems
o Term has been used to describe policies, systems, technologies, ideas, services and
products that provide solutions to existing healthcare problems
2
,EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
Three ways to classify innovation:
1) Their scope is their degree of novelty how new they
are
2) Their form or application (product, process, service)
a. Products: tangible physical objects that are
acquired and then used by consumers
b. Services: intangible things (e.g. banking,
education, and health-care) whether the
consumer benefits from the service, but does
not actually acquire an object
c. Processes: equipment, methods, systems used
by producers of products or services
3) Their innovativeness (how much change compared to
current norm)
3
, EPH 1025 Health Technological Innovations and EU Competencies case summaries
- Demand for an innovation:
o Pushed by the developers – previously no demand
o Pulled by some kind of expressed demand
health technological innovation and different types
i. (How does it differ from normal technology definition?)
- WHO definition health innovation: improves the efficiency, effectiveness, quality,
sustainability, safety, and/or affordability of healthcare
o This definition includes ‘new or improved’ health policies, practices, systems,
products and technologies, services, and delivery methods that result in improved
healthcare
o Improvements in research, patient satisfaction, education, and access to care are
additional factors
- the ultimate goal of health innovation is to improve our ability to meet public and personal
healthcare needs and demands by optimizing the performance of the health system
- innovations in healthcare should yield scalable solutions and improvements in health
policies, systems, products, technologies, services, and delivery methods, in order to improve
treatment, diagnosis, education, outreach, prevention, research quality and delivery, and
access to healthcare
4
