Accelerating Innovation Adoption:
An Innovation Maturity Model

The problem in healthcare is not the lack of innovation.

The problem is the s-l-o-w pace of innovation adoption.

That’s a theme I’ve returned to again and again in my articles on digital health transformation. Healthcare doesn’t suffer from a lack of ideas — it suffers from an inability to systematically adopt and scale them.

Over the past few years, I’ve written extensively about this adoption gap and proposed frameworks like “From Idea to Validation” and described the need for organizations to create and use an Innovation Prioritization Funnel, and the importance of clinician engagement. These articles all outlined a process-driven approach to selecting and implementing innovations with intention and impact.

But there’s one question that came up in my conversations with healthcare leaders:

How do we know how good our organization is adopting innovation?

What are our gaps?

That question led me to develop the Ingenium Innovation Maturity Model — a simple, structured way to assess how prepared a healthcare organization is to take innovation seriously, execute reliably, and sustain outcomes over time.

The Challenge: Measuring Innovation Readiness

Over the past 25 years in healthcare, I’ve seen numerous promising pilots that never scaled. Transformative technologies that stalled after enthusiastic beginnings. Ready-to-use innovations that were missed, because nobody was looking — or if they saw it, they didn’t know how to make use of it.

But more often than not, dedicated innovation teams ran out of momentum because the broader organization wasn’t equipped to change (including two failed attempts at the Mayo Clinic to create and disseminate innovation).

Often, the issue isn’t the innovation itself — it’s the environment, or rather the culture. If there’s no innovation strategy, no innovation governance, no engagement from clinicians or leadership, then even the most well-designed, most innovative solution is likely to not make it past its first implementation anniversary (which is a shame and also a lot of wasted money).

Our Innovation Maturity Model is designed to make these invisible obstacles visible. It enables leadership teams to diagnose where they are today, align their ambitions with their capabilities, and chart a path toward becoming an organization where innovation doesn’t just happen — but where it thrives.

The 7 Levels of Innovation Maturity

Like the Telehealth Maturity Model I introduced years ago, this new model is structured across seven levels of maturity. Each level represents a fundamentally different relationship with innovation:

Level 0 – Ad hoc: Innovation is largely absent. If it occurs, it is accidental, isolated, and unsupported. The rogue efforts of innovative disruptors that soon will leave the organization, frustrated. There are no defined goals, processes, or leadership involvement.

Level 1 – Aware: The organization recognizes the value of innovation and may include it in vision statements or leadership talking points. But there is no consistent support structure to act on those intentions. It is good intention with no backing.

Level 2 – Reactive: Innovation efforts are triggered by specific needs or external pressures (e.g., a crisis, a grant opportunity). Projects are pursued on a case-by-case basis, often without coordination or follow-through. It’s more about fixing crisis then taking advantage of innovation.

Level 3 – Supported: At this level, finally some structures are in place to enable and support innovation: internal champions are recognized, basic funding is provided for innovation projects, and innovation pilot projects are launched. There is growing leadership support, but innovation is still not fully aligned with strategic goals.

Level 4 – Aligned: Now, Innovation efforts are clearly tied to organizational priorities. Processes exist for identifying and managing initiatives. There is coordination across departments, and innovation is integrated into planning and budgeting cycles. This is the initial target level for most organizations we help to improve their organizational innovation maturity.

Level 5 – Strategic: Here, innovation is proactively promoted and led by dedicated teams and governed by strategic priorities. Resources, roles, and processes are in place to support not just experimentation, but adoption, scaling, and sustainability.

Level 6 – Embedded: Innovation is a core organizational capability, part of the DNA. It’s integrated into daily operations, supported by data, and driven by a culture that rewards curiosity, learning, and continuous improvement. Everyone — leaders, clinicians, staff — is empowered to innovate.