How to transform a perioperative nursing practice idea into an invention

AORN Journal, Nov, 1997 by William G. Pittman

Hundreds, if not thousands, of nurses have ideas for new health care products; however, seeing these ideas become finished, marketed products is uncommon. The lack of transfer from concept to actual product is unfortunate because these ideas could improve patient care, increase safety for health care professionals, save time, and decrease costs -- and also be profitable for the inventors and marketers.

Bringing new products to market is not an easy process. Many potential inventors underestimate the effort required to transform ideas into successful products. Sometimes it takes years for an idea to become a brand name. This task is less daunting if you are familiar with the resources available to help bring products to market. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how perioperative nurses' ideas can be marketed successfully and, hopefully, used widely and appreciated by the health care industry.

DOCUMENT YOUR IDEA

The first step in the process is to document your idea. To do this, write a detailed account of your idea (eg, what it is, how it came to you). Use a comfortable format and include details that you think are important. Describe the product's possible uses, who would benefit from the product, and the best production material. Include any information that you think will depict the product and its application. If possible, sketch a prototype that clearly demonstrates the product's appearance and function.

It is not necessary to spend much money to document your idea or create a prototype of it. You do not need to have your idea copyrighted or notarized at this point. You should, however, ask a trusted friend or relative to review your documentation and sign a statement that he or she has witnessed the documentation. Having this witness who can recall the essence of your invention and the date on which he or she read the description of it will be valuable if there is ever a dispute about the date or source of your invention's inception. Some inventors who work on long-term projects document their ideas in bound notebooks with numbered pages and ask witnesses to sign these notebooks at regular intervals.

TEST MARKET YOUR IDEA

After you have documented your idea, it is time to test market the concept. This process does not have to be scientifically rigorous, difficult, or prolonged.

The first step is to see what your colleagues think of the idea. As you survey your colleagues, document their answers. The more opinions you get, the better, so gather as many reactions -- both pro and con -- as possible.

A word of caution: The goal of test marketing your idea is not to sell it to the colleagues from whom you are soliciting opinions. Present the idea neutrally so you can determine if others recognize all the same, clinical problem that you noted and if they believe your product would provide a viable solution to die problem.

ANALYZE 7HE PRODUCT'S VALUE

The next step is to analyze your product's value and to demonstrate that value in terms of improved patient care, increased safety for health care professionals, or potential time and cost savings. Products and services that help create healthy patients and improve patient outcomes are in the greatest demand (ie, have the most value); however, health care administrators also are interested in ideas that reduce die cost of doing business.

When you analyze your product's value, study the process in which your product will be used (eg, patient transfers onto OR beds, surgical sponge counts). Mentally and physically walk through this process and evaluate how your product would affect people and resources from the time it was delivered to an OR suite until the time of its disposal.

The process-oriented approach to estimating your product's value is embodied in concepts such as activity based costing (ABC), which allocates "cost drivers" (eg, supplies, labor, overhead) to specific activities or steps in the process. By using this process, you may be able to show that your product is valuable because it eliminates one or more cost drivers. For example, if your product is an $8 video camera drape that eliminates the $20 process of sterilizing the video camera, your product would be valuable because it would eliminate several cost drivers (eg, supplies, labor, equipment depreciation).

ESTIMATE THE PROFIT POTENTIAL

Now is the time to determine if it is possible to manufacture your product and what its potential profit:cost ratio will be. Development costs can add up quickly, and you must be realistic about the potential market for your product. For example, if your product can be used in all surgical procedures, multiply the projected selling price by the number of surgical procedures performed annually to estimate the potential market for your product.

After projecting how many units of your product would be needed each year, the next step is to consider the production process. Your goal is to produce a quality product in a timely manner. One option is to invest your personal time and money in the processes of patenting, manufacturing, obtaining regulatory clearance, selling, and distributing your product. With the increased regulation and consolidation of the health care industry, this approach is not feasible for many nurse inventors. A viable alternative is to form a parnertship with an existing firm to manufacture and market your product.