Background to IPIHD

Establishing the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery

The International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery (IPIHD), catalyzed by the World Economic Forum, formed as a result of the extensive research conducted by McKinsey which analyzed 30 innovators worldwide. While designing the basis for a new organization, three core questions were asked:

1. What challenges are healthcare delivery innovators and entrepreneurs facing?
2. What support are other global institutions giving and where is there a gap?
3. How could a group of companies, akin to those who support the World Economic Forum, support innovation?

Through conversations with other global institutions and interviews with healthcare innovators, two areas were discovered where the provision of support was minimal or did not exist. The first, called the "valley-of-death," refers to an innovator who has piloted a solution and is looking to scale further, yet multiple challenges make successful scaling difficult. The second was linked through organizational capacity: building and developing the network, business capabilities, sustainable funding and relationships with regulatory bodies to create a strong scalable model.

In essence, the research uncovered four challenges facing innovators. 

1. Access to know-how and networks
2. Organizational expertise
3. Regulatory barriers 
4. Access to funding and capital

Based on this outcome, the World Economic Forum Steering Committee recommended building a strong network to address the four challenges sustainably: this network became IPIHD.  IPIHD was launched in January 2011 at the Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The official Forum handoff of IPIHD took place in April 2011 at the World Health Care Congress among top global innovators.

How the IPIHD Functions

IPIHD, in collaboration with investors, sponsors, industry, and innovators, actively seeks ways to overcome the four challenges in scaling innovations identified in the innovation research: Expertise, Knowledge, Regulations, and Finance. These challenges are addressed by IPIHD in four core programs:

• Mentoring and Support Program for Innovators (MSPI)
  Pairs innovators with industry executives who provide mentorship by making useful connections, challenging organizational plans, and providing general advice.
• Knowledge and Networking
  Facilitates sharing of best practices and collective solving of challenges on an innovators blog and within private forums. This program includes a limited-access area to inside contacts (innovators, industry and investors).
• Regulations and Policy
  Explores regulations and policy with both innovators and healthcare systems to understand challenges to implementing new delivery models and share acquired knowledge broadly.
• Annual Innovator-Investor Conference (AIIC)
  Convenes innovators and investors by business model or geography to facilitate collaboration.