Diffusion of Innovations in Health Service Organisations

This is a systematic review on how innovations in health service practice and organisation can be disseminated and implemented. This is an academic text, originally commissioned by the Department of Health from University College London and University of Surrey, using a variety of research methods. The results of the review are discussed in detail in separate chapters covering particular innovations and the relevant contexts. The book is intended as a resource for health care researchers and academics. Summary overview.

Chapter 1 Introduction.

Chapter 2 Method.

Chapter 3 Research Traditions.

Chapter 4 Innovations.

Chapter 5 Adopters and Adoption.

Chapter 6 Diffusion and Dissemination.

Chapter 7 The Inner Context.

Chapter 8 The Outer Context.

Chapter 9 Implementation and Institutionalization.

Chapter 10 Case Studies.

Chapter 11 Discussion.

Appendix 1 Data Extraction Form.

Appendix 2 Quality Checklists.

Appendix 3 Descriptive Statistics on Included Studies.

Appendix 4 Tables of Included Studies

‘This book is a towering work of remarkable scholarship. It bathes in light what was previously a shadowland of opacity, misconception, theory-hopping and misplaced enthusiasm.’

Sir Liam Donaldson
Chief Medical Officer

Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Health Care, University College London, UK This important book, based on research funded by the Department of Health Service and Delivery Organisation programme, makes a significant contribution to the literature on improving health services. Out of their exhaustive systematic review of the literature, which unpicked the many different research approaches to the study of the diffusion of innovations in organisations, the authors have produced a model for understanding the complexities of spreading and sustaining innovations in health services for future programmes. Four case studies illustrate how this can be applied in practice.

The comprehensive chapter list includes:
• approaches to researching diffusion of innovation in organisations
• what are innovations in service delivery and organisation?
• why do individuals adopt (or fail to adopt) innovations?
• spreading good ideas: passive diffusion and active dissemination
• organisational influences on innovation
• environmental influences on innovation
• implementing and sustaining innovation in organisations
• case examples
• practical advice on applying the model
• recommendations for future research

This book, the product of true interdisciplinary collaboration across different fields of health services and management research, is enthusiastically endorsed by the UK’s Chief Medical Officer. It will become the standard reference on the effective spread of innovations in health care wherever that is high on the agenda.