Abstract
Hospitals have increasingly embraced their role as centers for innovation and much attention has focused on technology transfer, translational research and even social innovation. Here we explore how open innovation could be a viable strategy for health organizations in contemporary society with its reliance on advanced information and communication technology. The study focuses on (a) innovation centers in hospitals by examining two variables important to open innovation: (i) the direction of value creation and (ii) innovation form, and (b) the development of scenarios for open innovation in healthcare by engaged practitioners in the field. The findings suggest some noteworthy variation in form and direction of innovation for healthcare. Most notably, although innovation is attended to, open initiatives do not loom large today. However, we also see that the future may bring something completely different with a focus on healthcare rather than hospitals. The results suggest direction for future empirical work and strategy development for designing healthcare systems as well as for open innovation practice.