Healthcare culture and the innovation climate of the Salt Lake Valley

Healthcare innovation has become an important issue over the past ten years in the health industry. However, consistently fostering the development and integration of new ideas and technologies into healthcare often runs counter to long held organizational norms and values. Many healthcare systems believe that resolving these issues and utilizing organizational tools can lead to long-term competitive advantage and better patient outcomes. Organizational culture has been identified as a means to address this challenge (Van Ess Coeling, 1993). Organizational culture is defined as "a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" (Schein, 1990). As a major component of Utah's economy, the need for healthcare innovation is particularly significant. The setting for examining the impact of organizational culture on healthcare innovation will focus on the two Level I trauma centers in the Salt Lake Valley. These include the University of Utah Hospital and the Intermountain Medical Center. In this thesis, a brief history of the healthcare industry in the United States and Utah is provided. The use of organizational culture is evaluated as a potential tool for facilitating innovation within healthcare and a means for achieving long-term competitive advantage. Finally, a preliminary case study evaluation of healthcare culture and the innovation landscape comparing the two hospital systems is included, along with information and discussion.