Creating Value Through Innovation Collaborations

Meaningful partnerships are important to me. Lately, a significant portion of my work has involved connecting professionals in the healthcare innovation sector. My trip to Dallas last week started with organic introductions I made in 2024. Some may view making business introductions as a simple and quick process. The process takes time, and time has a cost. In healthcare, innovation doesn’t thrive in isolation; it takes the right connections to move ideas forward. But real impact happens when we prioritize relational partnerships over transactional exchanges. It’s about building trust, fostering mutual respect, and creating opportunities that solve real problems. Here are my thoughts on how to make meaningful introductions: ✅ Lead with Value, Not Ego. Don’t focus on what’s in it for you. Prioritize how both sides benefit from the introduction. Relationships built on genuine value last longer and go further. ✅ Know the Gaps Before You Fill Them. Understand the pain points of both parties. High-impact connections happen when you address a critical need or opportunity. ✅ Vet Ruthlessly, Introduce Thoughtfully. Not every connection is worth making. Be selective and introduce only when there’s a clear alignment of values, goals, and capabilities. Protect the integrity of your network. ✅ Do Your Homework. Before making an introduction, ensure you have a thorough understanding of both parties to effectively explain why the connection is significant. ✅ Frame the Introduction with Context. Set the stage. Provide both parties with sufficient background information to understand the relevance and potential of the relationship. Clarity upfront fosters respect and avoids wasted time. ✅ Stay in the Loop (But Don’t Hover). Follow up to see if the introduction was valuable, but don’t micromanage the outcome. Relationships that thrive are built on trust, not control. ✅ Be a Problem Solver, Not Just a Connector. Your role doesn’t end with the introduction. Be available to offer insights or guidance if needed as the relationship develops. ✅ Protect Your Network’s Trust. Introduce only when it makes sense. One mismatched connection can erode trust and weaken your credibility. Guard your network’s reputation as carefully as your own. ✅ Build for the Long Game. Relational partnerships aren’t built overnight. Consistently show up, add value, and nurture trust over time. Sustainable impact comes from authentic, long-term connections. ✅ Celebrate the Wins. When a connection you made leads to something great, acknowledge it. Recognize the impact and reinforce the power of trusted relationships. Relational partnerships move healthcare forward. When trust and respect are the foundation, introductions become catalysts for real change. If you’re serious about advancing innovation, be intentional with your connections. It’s not about quantity. It’s about quality, trust, and lasting impact. 🔥 #healthcareonlinkedin #partnerships #innovation #sme

In healthcare, innovation isn’t just about shiny apps or breakthrough devices. The most impactful innovations can involve rethinking how an entire system works—while still keeping it running. That’s the challenging truth facing large US health systems like Advocate Health and Sutter Health. With mounting pressures—rising costs, staff shortages, and digital-first competitors—these organizations are finding that focusing only on incremental change won’t cut it. They’re building enterprise-wide innovation ecosystems designed to unlock creativity at scale. I explore what they’re doing in a new article for Forbes (a link is in the Comments below). At Advocate Health, for example, this means going beyond pilot projects or siloed innovation labs. Their approach includes: - Strategic partnerships with startups and accelerators - Internal investment funds and innovation districts - Tech transfer capabilities to bring discoveries to market - Leadership development programs built around tools like Jobs to Be Done, human-centered design, and the business model canvas It’s a significant shift—embedding innovation not just in strategy decks, but in the day-to-day work of solving persistent pain points. Teams aren’t just testing new tech. They’re tackling the real “struggling moments” for patients, clinicians, and administrators alike—from vendor inefficiencies to emergency room backlogs—and redesigning care delivery around those needs. One key lesson? Change happens when innovation teams forge close ties with operational leaders and treat them as co-creators, not gatekeepers. That approach opens the door for adoption and scale—critical in a sector that can be both risk-averse and in dire need of reinvention. In a future where innovation methods are as standard as EHRs and MRIs, standalone “innovation departments” may become obsolete. But, until then, health systems that build these capabilities now will be better equipped to navigate uncertainty—and lead the industry transformation already underway. The takeaway for innovators everywhere: When facing entrenched systems and high stakes, don’t just think different—build systems that work differently.

“NGS doesn’t need another test, it needs a system.” Say it louder for the people in the back. In my colleague Stephane Budel recently published commentary, he quotes Robert Green making this exact point, and it’s one we think about often at DeciBio. Especially since we have the unique opportunity to work across the ecosystem and see firsthand how much adoption and value depend on collaboration. We spend a lot of time discussing MCED, CGP, hereditary cancer, and for good reason. #Oncology has been the proving ground for next-generation sequencing. But if we truly want to capture the full potential of advanced molecular diagnostics, ecosystems will be just as critical in other disease areas such as rare disease, cardiovascular health, and Alzheimer’s. Take #Alzheimers, a disease where scalable diagnostics virtually do not exist today. Circular Genomics is developing RNA-based assays that could enable earlier detection, but without neurologist engagement, payer alignment, and integration into imaging and care delivery, their impact will remain limited. Or look at rare disease, where more than 7,000 conditions affect around 30 million people in the U.S. GeneDx’s leadership is not defined by sequencing alone since WES and WGS are not proprietary technologies. What sets them apart is the ecosystem: a dataset of 850,000+ exomes and genomes enriched with 7M+ #longitudinal #phenotypic datapoints, combined with partnerships across clinicians, manufacturers, special research initiatives, and advocacy groups. That is what shortens the diagnostic odyssey for families searching for answers. Product development in diagnostics also goes far beyond the assay. It must account for the entire patient experience, end to end, by thinking through what happens both upstream and downstream of the test. Patient experience is part of the product itself, which only makes the case stronger for building the right ecosystem to support adoption and impact. For us, the real opportunity lies in applying a system-first mindset across all of healthcare. Innovation goes beyond the science. It requires alignment across stakeholders including payers, providers, regulators, manufacturers, and advocates. Each has just as much influence on adoption and value as the test itself. In the next decade, the tests that matter most won’t be the ones with the best technology, they’ll be the ones embedded in the strongest systems. Stéphane’s full commentary is well worth the read; you can find it here: https://lnkd.in/gAifjCjs #ecosystem #precisionmedicine

Are you in charge of building ecosystems for your company? If so, there are 5 dimensions that you need to manage and mature to create a high-value, sustainable network of inter-dependent partners. These 5 dimensions represent the attributes that, taken together, allow an ecosystem to emerge and thrive. If you don't nurture and mature each element Strategically, Operationally and Culturally, across your ecosystem orchestration framework, your ecosystem won't deliver sustainable value. Here are the 5 Dimensions: 1️⃣ Value - this dimension might seem obvious, but its trickier than it appears. Value Orchestration needs to happen on 4 vectors - value to the 'joint' customer, value to each ecosystem member, value to the ecosystem orchestrator, and value to the entire ecosystem. Note that the best ecosystems deliver network effects 'at the ecosystem level' so the value you orchestrate with the overall ecosystem is the magic that makes the 4-way win so powerful. 2️⃣ Alignment - this is the most difficult dimension to get right because Alignment Orchestration also has to happen on 4 vectors - internal alignment (e.g., tying the ecosystem to a platform business model), alignment with 'each' ecosystem member, alignment 'across' ecosystem members (P-2-P), and alignment between the joint customers and the ecosystem. 3️⃣ Engagement - this is the most overlooked dimension. Engagement Orchestration is where and how we 'relate' to and with each ecosystem member and the ecosystem as a whole. Engagement Orchestration covers the RACI, rules, workflows, tools, data, reporting, incentives, etc. Engagement can't happen without a comprehensive ecosystem platform (aka your ecosystem tech stack) that is designed around the challenges of ecosystem orchestration. 4️⃣ Agility - this is the least understood dimension. Like any other organism (business or natural) survival and sustainability is a function of agility - the ability to successfully adapt to changes in environment in an anti-fragile manner. A top priority for ecosystem leaders is ensuring that the ecosystem continues to adapt its value, alignment, and engagement. Agility Orchestration means, bringing in new ecosystem partners, re-setting commercial terms and rules of operation specified in Engagement above, re-aligning with members of the ecosystem as joint customers ask for new forms of value, etc. 5️⃣ Scale - this dimension is also obvious but means more than just adding more gas and building more infrastructure. Scale Orchestration is a governance job. It is the competency to look at the overall state of the other four dimensions to measure and manage maturity in a concerted fashion. In simple terms that means that the amount of value, alignment, engagement and agility must be matched & coordinated across your ecosystem journey on a Strategic, Operational and Cultural level. Scale Orchestration also helps ecosystem leaders to manage the C-Suite and the Board. #ecosystemorchestration

Early in my career, I learned to admire the smartest mentors in the room who knew the history and policy and developed novel ideas. The last 10 years have shifted me to see how that alone was limiting. Our value goes much beyond knowing the concept-- it sits in how we think though making decisions (e.g. asking hard questions with inclusivity) and guide others in making change. Time and time again I see: 💠 New ideas halt before getting started because they focused incrementally (i.e. under resourced pilot investments set up to fail) 💠 Large, shiny ideas take off without the footing or interest to align teams across the organization to ensure robust implementation 💠 New pilots, even with successful outcomes, falter without sustainability plans because we limit our resources to our own pie rather than across partners. Content expertise does not equate to leadership and can only take someone so far without having an ecosystem approach and developing their leadership skills. An ecosystem approach means focusing on the interconnectedness of an idea across various parts of the organization and community-- thinking through collective resources, networks, and structures to reach shared goals. Content experts need thought partners who can see their work through an ecosystem perspective who can help understand the intersections and bring clarity to strategic decisions. Healthcare executives, though, infrequently receive formal training in systems thinking and learn variably on the job. We likely have all worked with or for someone who can only see the organization as their unit or who struggles to work with different communication styles. Their reaction is avoidance (siloing work), defensiveness (turfing), aggression, etc. Unfortunately, this limits the whole team from learning systems thinking. It's a palpable difference to trust that your boss can see how your work is interconnected across the organization and the ecosystem. 💠 Can the leader map how their work intersects across other units with joint resources? For ex, developing health system wide care management programs that leverages staff across the patient journey and not isolated to an individual clinic. 💠 Can the organization see beyond grant writing and work across sectors to create financially sustained systems? For ex, rather than Food as Medicine programs relying on grants, developing a regional food system focused on supply chains for financial win-wins. 💠 Can the leader hold accountability to develop true pro formas for initiatives to ensure they are right sized and have the right buyin and timelines? 💠 Can the leader speak different communication styles to translate their vision to the rest of the organization? Knowing the ecosystem is vital to navigate the political climate. Systems approaches are not easy by any means but create larger, sustained changes. Strive for more. #leadership #ecosystem #communicationstyles #investinskillls #chcf