Enhancing translational research impact through collaborative process innovation

Translational science methods often fall short due to the complexity of the healthcare delivery environment. We developed a methodology that involves multiple interest holders working within a pre-competitive consortium to develop solutions to translational barriers. The methodology supports innovative collaboration in a stepwise fashion: elucidating challenges, designing solutions, enabling implementation, monitoring, learning, disseminating, and catalyzing. Cases that benefit most from a structured collaborative methodology are those where diverse needs require elucidation and alignment. Application of the methodology to develop regulatory, clinical, and business innovations has shown the importance of an innovation facilitator and the capacity-building potential of collective skill enhancement.