Leveraging Organizational Conditions for Innovation: A Typology of Facility Engagement in the Veterans Health Administration Shark Tank−Style Competition

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The development and spread of innovation are known challenges in health care. The US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) created a “Shark Tank”-style competition directed at frontline employees. In this annual, systemwide competition, employees submit innovations to the competition, and winning innovations receive support for implementation in other facilities. METHOD: A multiple case study design was used to understand facility engagement in the competition, and the relationship between engagement and organizational conditions. The authors created a typology to describe the relationship between facility engagement in the competition and organizational conditions for innovation. RESULTS: Overall, there was high participation in the VHA’s competition across all 130 facilities. The authors identified 7 mutually exclusive types of facility engagement. DISCUSSION: As expected, facilities with the most established conditions for innovation were the most engaged in the competition. Additionally, other facilities had various ways to be involved. Consequently, there may be benefit to the VHA tailoring how they work with facilities, based on organizational conditions. Larger facilities with ongoing research and more resources may be more suited to develop innovations, whereas smaller facilities could benefit from a focus on adoption. CONCLUSION: These insights are valuable to the VHA and can be used by other health care systems to tailor innovation programs and allocate resources based on diverse needs across a vast health care system.