Abstract
The present research aimed to assess how process innovations are used by hospital institutions to foster greater competitiveness of administrative and operational services provided by hospitals to health insurance providers. This study uses a qualitative descriptive design based on the assessment of multiple cases, and using content analysis as technical procedure. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in six private hospitals within the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, from December 2016 through January 2017. The study shows that these hospitals have been using innovations in a rather incipient way and, therefore, not in a systematic and purposeful way. The study also shows that the Costing System, Purchase System, Bed Management System or Control, Billing Process, and Patient Service categories had positive results and generated benefits for health insurance providers. Nevertheless, the Inventory Control System, Cash Flow, Computer Network Structure, and Human Resources Policy categories showed non-satisfactory results as they do not generate benefits for health insurance providers.
Keywords: Innovation. Competitiveness. Costs.