Symposium 5 - Design Thinking and Innovation in Healthcare

Advancing the vision for Hong Kong to become a health and medical innovation hub requires harnessing the power of people to innovate. 
Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology that emphasizes empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing to create innovative solutions. It has emerged as a key method for innovation, a way of thinking about problems that transform how we tackle complex challenges, cultivate creativity, and engineer breakthrough solutions. In the business world, design-driven organisations that integrate design thinking into their corporate strategy have proven to outperform market peers. 
Health systems could benefit greatly from this systematic approach as an essential skill that focuses on solving the needs of the people who use healthcare services. Design thinking has been employed to develop a wide range of innovative solutions in medicine, including new medical devices and treatments, improved healthcare delivery, and new approaches to medical education. 
Drawing from case studies and specific examples of how this methodology has been used in medicine, we explore the concepts that drive design thinking, the implications of using this approach to foster interdisciplinary interaction, and how co-creation between multiple stakeholders can unlock new understanding and business opportunities.
We also highlight the conditions conducive to design thinking, what factors might strain the process, and the cultural dimensions critical for sustainable success.

Innovation is pivotal in overcoming the multifaceted challenges inherent in healthcare delivery. This presentation offers an overview of the prevailing challenges in healthcare, the strides made in innovation, and illuminating examples from CUHK Medical Center (CUHKMC).
The discussion will first examine the broad spectrum of challenges confronting modern healthcare systems, ranging from escalating costs and access disparities to the complexities of delivering quality care in a rapidly evolving landscape. Next, we will explore the remarkable progress achieved through innovation in healthcare, highlighting breakthroughs in medical technology and patient-centered care approaches.
Drawing upon examples from CUHKMC, we will showcase innovative initiatives that address these challenges head-on.