GAITS for Innovation Programs
A structured platform for program directors and funders, used by more than 1,000 teams since it launched nearly a decade ago. Every team follows the same evidence-based path, and program leaders see progress across the entire cohort.
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The Challenge
Most innovation programs lack a common standard for measuring team progress and a structured way to use scarce mentor time. Mentors are how a program supplies the experience most teams lack, so both gaps limit what a program can achieve.
Without a shared framework, the same "stage" can mean very different things across teams in the same cohort. Mentors give advice based on experience and instinct rather than a consistent evidence base. Portfolio managers have no reliable way to compare progress across projects. And when funders ask for evidence of program impact, the data is hard to aggregate and harder to defend.
Most innovation funding programs now rely on mentors to work directly with teams. Without a structured record of what has been done and what comes next, mentors spend much of their limited time getting up to speed on each team.
GAITS gives every team the same structured path through the Healthcare Innovation Cycle, with defined Deliverables at each of ten maturity levels across four domains: clinical, market/business, regulatory, and technology. Teams update the status of each Deliverable together with the evidence supporting that assessment. Progress becomes visible, comparable, and defensible across the entire cohort.
Mentors are how a program supplies the experience most teams lack, and their time is scarce. GAITS shows mentors where each team stands, what has been completed, and what comes next, so less of their time goes to getting up to speed and more to guidance. The Meeting Record keeps the advice, decisions, and actions from each session with the project, so the next mentor starts from what was already said. Mentors can also coordinate with each other and with portfolio managers, so teams receive consistent support.
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Platform Capabilities
Portfolio-wide tools for visualizing progress against plan, tracking customizable metrics, and coordinating mentors and evidence across the cohort.
The GAITS platform gives program directors the tools to oversee every team in their cohort, with the detail needed to intervene early and the portfolio-level view needed to report meaningfully on program outcomes.
See every team's maturity level across all four domains at a glance. Sortable progress tables and drill-down access to any aspect of any project across the whole cohort.
Deliverables are bundled into structured Work Packages aligned with funding tranches. Portfolio Managers can visualize each team's progress against plan and drill down to the underlying data and evidence.
Track the metrics that matter to your funders and stakeholders. Program-level metrics can be defined and customized for each cohort, giving Portfolio Managers a consistent view of key indicators across all teams.
Mentors have a private workspace for notes and observations not visible to the team. The Meeting Record captures the advice, decisions, and actions from each session. Program directors can monitor mentor activity and check that support is consistent across all sites.
Sub-portfolios support complex programs with multiple partners or funding streams, all within a single platform. Hierarchical access control keeps each group's data appropriately scoped.
Every team works to the same set of core Deliverables for their solution type, making progress comparable across the cohort. Teams can also add custom Deliverables for project-specific work. Five solution types are currently supported: MedTech, Digital Medicine, IVD, Biomarker Diagnostics, and Therapeutics.
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Roles and Structure
Three roles working together within a structured program: Portfolio Manager, Mentor, and Team Member.
Each GAITS Solution Site supports three role types with appropriate access levels. At program level, the Portfolio Manager coordinates the whole cohort, assigning mentors, overseeing progress, and managing access across all Solution Sites.
Portfolio Manager
Creates and manages Solution Sites across the program, assigns solution types and mentors, monitors cohort-wide progress, and maintains private SWOT notes on each team. Sub-portfolios allow hierarchical management for large or multi-partner programs.
Mentors
Assigned by the Portfolio Manager to support one or more teams. Mentors access each team's Solution Site and a private mentor workspace, shared with the Portfolio Manager, for observations and feedback not visible to the team.
Team Members
Work through the Healthcare Innovation Cycle Deliverables on their private Solution Site. Three access levels are available: Site Admin (manages the site), Full Access, and View Only for advisors and external reviewers.
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Track Record
Nearly a decade, more than 1,000 teams, and a growing structured record that will support evidence-informed, AI-assisted guidance.
The GAITS frameworks were developed from direct experience with healthcare innovation teams. CIMIT's work with innovators since 1998 shaped the Healthcare Innovation Cycle. The Interviewing Rules, the H-BMC, and the Funding Readiness Framework were developed and refined through the CRAASH program, and are used by programs including those listed below.
Every team's evidence, including interviews, stakeholder reports, Meeting Records, and other documents, is stored in a structured, private repository. Aggregate, anonymized patterns across teams are used to refine the framework. As AI tools mature, this longitudinal record will support better pattern recognition and more specific guidance, with data privacy preserved.
Interested in adopting GAITS for your program? Contact John Collins to discuss how GAITS can be configured for your cohort.