Saludinnova: A Social Network of Innovators in Health

Abstract

The Bank of Innovative Practices (BIP) is an initiative of the Health Department of Andalucia together with Public Foundation of Andalusia for Technological Progress and Personnel Training (IAVANTE Foundation). The goal of the Bank is to promote and encourage innovation within the public health system of Andalusia identifying innovative actions carried out by healthcare professionals. The Bank also disseminates the innovative practices of these professionals to the rest of the system, as a way to acknowledge the unselfish work they do for improving the quality of the healthcare system provided for the population.The strategy of the project contributes to the innovation and modernization of the healthcare system aiming to generate higher levels of well-being and progress for the Andalusian society at large, and especially, for the users of the Public Health System of Andalusia.Through the so called innovative practices and ideas, the BIP gathers all the actions, both ongoing projects and proposals of innovation produced at the healthcare centers of Andalusia and it makes them available to all its members. In order to do that, the Bank of Innovative Practices has a number of useful tools of dissemination for the healthcare professionals. The improvement of these tools is a continuous process: the portal www.saludinnova.com, the Award to the Best Innovative Practice, the Innovative Ideas Contest, the Health Innovation Forum and Communities or Working Groups.However, the resource which contributes the most for the professionals to use the BIP is the Innovation Healthcare Agents. This Network is present in each hospital center and it encourages the development of new ideas and innovative practices.