Harnessing Potential: A Systematic Investigation of How and Why Learning Happens in a Health System.

Background: The ability to learn is central to innovation and performance across industries, and it is the hallmark feature of the rapidly growing movement toward Learning Health Systems. While learning drivers-such as experimentation, risk-taking, participative decision-making, dialogue, and interaction with the external environment-are well defined, they have received little attention in healthcare contexts. Aim: This study explored the nature of organizational learning within Trillium Health Partners (THP), one of Canada's largest community-based teaching hospital systems. Methods: Formal leaders at THP completed the Organizational Learning Capability instrument. A latent profile analysis identified the number and nature of distinct learning profiles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to develop an empirically grounded explanation of how organizational learning drivers interact to enable-or constrain-learning within the organization. Results: Of 334 eligible leaders, 231 responded to the survey, and 141 provided sufficient data for inclusion in the analyses. Latent Profile Analysis identified two distinct learning profiles: one with relatively higher perceived learning capability and another with relatively lower perceived capability. Interviews with leaders ( Conclusion: Our systematic investigation into how and why learning occurs within a large community hospital system may support other healthcare systems in developing programs that foster the learning necessary to develop and implement innovative delivery models at scale.