When I was Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, I often felt that my title should have been Chief Innovation Communication and Relations Officer. In any firm, an innovation program cannot be effective without building bridges within the firm. But, in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare delivery, pharma, banking, and insurance, good relationships and effective communication are especially vital.
Innovating in a Highly Regulated Industry Like Health Care
Innovating in highly regulated industries can be challenging, but it is necessary. For innovation to flourish despite legal and regulatory obstacles, you must address innovation barriers head-on. Begin by building relationships proactively with internal regulatory and legal folks. Bring them in early. Find a champion within your legal or regulatory departments who is interested in innovation. Frame these conversations as discussions — ask “How can we…?” rather than “Can we…?” Tackle “folk law” — the attitude that there must be a rule in place, because we’ve always done it that way — head on. Innovation frequently occurs in that uncharted territory, where regulations may not be well-defined. To help make this more comfortable, track what the competition is doing: there’s safety in numbers. Innovating in regulated industries takes longer than in other industries, so be patient and expect setbacks. Recognize that you’ll also have to communicate broadly — beyond just the legal and regulatory departments — and repeat yourself often.