A comparison between public and private sectors in the healthcare process-innovation - A study conducted by an entrepreneurship-based perspective

Abstract: Swedish healthcare has been a central subject which is constantly mentioned and studied throughout the latest decade. However, this thesis aims to look into how the private and public sector innovates their processes and compares the two while also improving upon it. In order to study these questions, the thesis has chosen to conduct a semi-structured interview, interviewing a Chief physician (professor in neurology), a section chief, and an economic manager in Skånes universitetssjukhus in the public sector. Meanwhile in the private sector a general practitioner was interviewed where an in-depth interview was conducted. In order to fully understand the main theme of process-innovation three major sections were studied: process-innovation, system-innovation and Open Innovation. The findings were that the public sector struggled with bureaucratic decision-making which weighted down their strategic planning, however it has been less prevalent due to management giving more autonomy to the different units and departments. Although there is still a need to improve. Meanwhile the private sector has the benefit of being fully autonomous but are in constant need of more experts in order to fulfill the increasing demand, which makes many clinics in a constant threat of bankruptcy. However, the findings say that through reinventing the processes by doing partnership through merging the public planning model with the private sector's planning model will increase the productivity in the public sector. In the private sector however, it is recommended to cooperate more extensively between the public sector in order to cover the need of expertise. Reorganizing the system- and processes-innovation of the current healthcare system through team thinking, in both sectors, will also increase the overall productivity of the personnel and decrease the waiting time for patients.