ABSTRACT
Understanding the concept of innovation requires both knowledge of what exists and what needs to exist. Unsatisfied (at times referred to as unclassified) needs, wants, or desires drive innovation. However, innovation thrives beyond inventions and new scientific breakthroughs. Innovation exists in the minds of those who evaluate and identify it. Individuals do not use a standard definition when deciding whether the encounter is innovative. Customers (patients/ physicians) know innovation because of performance issues that exceed their expectations. To be told a product, service, or even technology is innovative is ludicrous. How can a marketer, salesperson, or spokesperson decide for every individual that something is innovative? Innovation is determined at the individual level. Individuals can experience an item, evaluate service, and determine if it meets an unfulfilled need-only then is it deemed innovative.
