Escalating healthcare expenses have heightened the urgency for new approaches across healthcare organizations, positioning organizational innovation as a vital catalyst for crafting initiatives that boost affordability, expand access, and secure enduring, sustainable healthcare provision. Although extensive prior research has scrutinized innovation practices among physicians and nurses, explorations of innovation practices among Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and pharmacists remain in their infancy. The current study examines the prevailing innovation culture among AHPs and pharmacists in Singapore’s largest healthcare cluster. In particular, it evaluates the predictive power of the Innovation Quotient model’s core elements—Values, Behaviors, Climate, Processes, Resources, and Success—on individuals’ perceived shifts in innovation levels. A cross-sectional survey was emailed to 4413 AHPs and pharmacists, yielding 620 completed responses. The assessment tool, the InnoQuotient, featured 54 items organized under 18 factors that map directly onto the six foundational pillars of innovation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) in RStudio assessed overall model fit and examined associations between the factors and participants’ self-reported changes in innovation. To enrich the numerical findings, a thematic analysis of 65 open-ended verbatim comments was executed via MAXQDA.
SEM analysis showed that three innovation pillars—Behaviors, Processes, and Success—maintained statistically significant relationships with reported innovation change. More precisely, gains in innovation aligned with stronger Behaviors and Success, yet an inverse link emerged between innovation change and Processes, hinting that excessively centralized, command-style projects could stifle bottom-up creativity. The accompanying thematic review echoed these patterns, spotlighting leadership’s decisive influence in advancing genuine innovation while exposing pitfalls such as one-way imposition of new projects and persistent barriers to genuine interdisciplinary teamwork. The outcomes support a well-calibrated strategy that blends decisive leadership with spontaneous, team-driven collaboration to nurture a resilient innovation culture. Upcoming research should prioritize targeted improvements to the weaker innovation pillars and capture viewpoints from every layer of the organizational hierarchy.
