Collaborative innovation between hospitals and biomedical firms in China: a cross-sectional study of practice and willingness from the perspective of medical staff

Grounded in the Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) and Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) frameworks, this study investigated hospital-level practice and individual-level willingness regarding collaborative innovation from the perspective of medical staff, aiming to provide evidence for accelerating collaborative innovation between hospitals and biomedical firms in China. This cross-sectional study was designed to explore the collaborative innovation in the health care system in China. Using descriptive statistics, the chi-squared test, and logistic regression, we analyzed hospital-level existing hospital-industry collaborative innovation practice and medical staff’s willingness to engage and identified associated factors. A questionnaire investigation was simultaneously conducted online and offline from June 8 to September 8, 2023. 818 questionnaires were distributed to medical staff in 21 provinces in China by convenience and snowball methods, and 810 were completed. Medical staff working in public hospitals were recruited. Only 18.8% respondents reported existing hospital-level practice, 6.7% reported personal participation experience (54/810), yet 650 (80.2%) expressed willingness to engage. Hospital-level existing practice was positively associated with being a nurse (OR = 1.919), higher perceived disadvantages (OR = 1.135), and non-research hospital status (OR = 1.924). Medical staff’s willingness to engage was associated with age (30–39 vs. 20–29, OR = 0.445; ≥50 vs. 20–29, OR = 0.230), perceived roles for hospitals (OR = 1.240) and individuals (OR = 1.285), and department (surgery vs. internal medicine, OR = 0.473; general practice vs. internal medicine, OR = 0.165). Although most medical staff expressed willingness to engage, the majority reported that their hospitals had no such practice. Both observed variables were associated with factors within the integrated DOI-ORC framework—adopter characteristics, perceived innovation attributes, and organizational readiness—yet with distinct patterns. Bridging the gap between individual willingness and limited organizational reality required clearly communicating the dual roles of collaborative innovation—for both hospital development and individual career growth—while acknowledging its inherent disadvantages and equipping staff with institutional support to navigate them, and reforming promotion criteria that currently undervalue industry collaboration relative to traditional academic metrics, particularly for mid-career surgeons and general practitioners facing the greatest barriers to engagement.