Technology transfer can be defined as the process of developing practical applications from scientific research. Many hospitals and universities are starting to acknowledge the need of having some sort of "Office of Technology Transfer" (OTT) dedicated to identifying research which has potential commercial interest and strategies for how to exploit it. This means providing patenting, licensing, and other commercialization support to MDs and researchers.

Here’s my view on what an OTT should be doing to foster innovation:

(a) It should be encouraging entrepreneurial culture among all healthcare workers, explaining them the language of innovation and entrepreneurship, and all the tools they have to "move" an idea to the marketplace.

(b) It should detect opportunities through individual interviews with professionals and brainstorming sessions across the hospital.

(c) It should help in the execution of projects, defining implementation and follow-up for every individual idea, from concept to opportunity, from business plan to financing.

(d) It should define (and leverage on) an ecosystem of relationships between the hospital and the different innovation agents, that is, business schools, venture capital firms, business angels, governmental agencies, technology parks, labs, …

(e) It should define the “rules of the game” inside the institution to deal with intrapreneurship, that is the relationship between the hospital and the individual (team) willing to innovate, ownership issues, etc…

(f) It should always benchmark with “the outside”, keeping an eye open to what other hospitals are doing, and learn, learn, learn.

We have already implemented an OTT in a paediatric hospital, and the results are surprising. When someone takes an active role in exploiting innovation in a hospital, many (hidden) opportunities arise. The process to commercially exploit these opportunities varies widely. It can involve licensing agreements, joint ventures, partnerships with third parties, creation of spin-outs (usually when the hospital does not have the will to develop a new technology), or creation of start-ups raising venture capital. In creating those OTT we all help technologies move from hospitals to the marketplace, and therefore benefit society and the global economy.