La información de patentes y su aplicación en los cuidados de la salud: el caso del hospital de Saint Johnen Oporto, Portugal.

In the global scenario today, innovation is crucial for the competitiveness of organizations. Thus, also the health establishments should be aware of advances in new technologies for the treatment of diseases. However, widespread climate of scant budget for the financing to health, coupled with the increase of medical-scientific research explosion, reveal the complexity in identifying and adopting effective strategies in managing innovation. The use of patent databases as a source of technology information is based on the assumption that the increased interest in new technologies is reflected in the increase in patent applications. The above information is of great value to generate knowledge that affects the achievement of positive results in the implementation of R & D, since it provides legal, commercial and technical information, not usually found in other documentary source. The paper analyses the advantages of the described patent information to obtain drugs for cancer patients at affordable costs, whose active ingredients are in public domain. It is based on a study of a real case of application by the Saint John's Hospital, in Porto, Portugal. The purpose of this technological surveillance is to stimulate creativity, leading to the development of new products and processes as well as improving rates of innovation in health institutions with cost efficiency. Examples of the use and application of this information resource are presented, and the advantages thus obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]