Organizing temporalities in a medical device market by innovation procurement

• This paper is about how innovation is enacted in the valuation efforts of public buyers. More particularly, it describes and analyzes how temporalities that govern innovation in a medical device market are organized through a valuation tool and the practices related to it.  Valuing new technologies in markets are essentially crowded with different temporal concerns, including openness and uncertainty of the future. Innovation is inherently uncertain since its value may depend on the future developments that are yet unknown in the present. Thus, this temporal challenge in valuing ‘the real benefits’ of investments in new, high-cost medical devices often lead to tensions where the methods and practices of valuing innovation is put into question. Innovation procurement is one initiative designed to address these concerns and facilitate a ‘healthy dose’ of innovation while safeguarding better value for money in health care spending.  This paper reports findings from a specific innovation procurement process of radiation therapy equipment for the New Karolinska Hospital project in Stockholm, Sweden. Based on a detailed reading of the bidding documents and interview data with the involved market actors, we identify different temporal functions of time articulated and performed by innovation procurement and how these different ways affect how innovation is enacted. Our findings serve as a basis for developing a conceptualization of organizing temporalities of medical device innovation, which contributes to STS studies of valuation tools and their part in governing economic markets. 

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)