Factors affecting open innovation in public hospitals of Guilan province

In the present era, the implementation of open innovation process is necessary for any organization, and hospitals as the main medical centers are no exception. In fact, hospitals, as health operational units, are always directly exposed to changes in the field of health services. Therefore, the present study has investigated the factors affecting open innovation in public hospitals in Guilan province.

From the point of view of purpose, this research is an applied study and in terms of data collection, it is in the category of descriptive research, which was conducted cross-sectionally in 1400. The statistical population of the study was 1600 senior managers and staff of public hospitals in Guilan province. For sampling, a non-randomized judgmental sampling method was used to access community members (senior managers and employees with at least a bachelor's degree). 250 questionnaires were used to perform the test. Data collection tools are standard questionnaires. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha, and the validity of the questionnaires was confirmed through the face and content validity, convergent and divergent validity. The structural equation modeling method has been used to test the research hypotheses. The software used in this research is SPSS 26 and Smart PLS3.

The results of the structural equation modeling test showed that among the external factors, cooperation with partners and the user, among the internal organizational factors, organizational structure, exploratory learning, and organizational culture, and finally among the individual internal factors, organizational motivation affects the open innovation of public hospitals in Guilan province. The impact of trust between partners, technology, personality traits, and knowledge on hospital open innovation has been rejected.

In collaboration with other health care services, universities, and users, hospitals should develop appropriate policies to transition from a closed innovation system to open innovation, and support effective measures in this regard.