“Innovation is what distinguishes between a leader and a follower” is a statement often attributed to Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Nowhere is this saying truer than in the realm of information technology (IT), where the blistering pace of change can make even casual observers dizzy. Yet IT innovation can be a two-edged sword. It can empower a health care organization to leapfrog its competitors and delight its customers, or it can weigh on that organization like a millstone around the neck. How does one reconcile the rapid emergence of technologies with the slower, more deliberate response time of a large organization? One answer is to ignore disruptive technologies, letting nimbler competitors exploit them first. That is a good way to get blindsided or left behind. Perhaps a better answer is to identify, investigate, and understand new technologies much earlier in their life cycle—months to years before they hit the mainstream—so that organizations have time to get ready. This has been the task of a new group within Kaiser Permanente (KP) Information Technology (KP-IT): the Innovation & Advanced Technology Group (IAT). Only two years old, IAT is a forward-looking group of clinicians, engineers, and business analysts that identifies and investigates the clinical information technologies that are likely to hit the mainstream in the next two to five years. The goal is to develop realistic, objective, and informed recommendations for KP leadership and stakeholders that reduce the risk inherent in new technologies. IAT is affiliated with KP's Sidney R Garfield Center for Health Care Innovation, a 37,000-square foot care delivery simulation laboratory located in San Leandro, CA, sponsored by KP-IT, National Facilities Services, and Patient Care Services. Within this facility is a full-sized medical-surgical ward from KP's template hospital, critical care and special needs patient rooms, operating room, labor and delivery suite, Emergency Department patient room, ambulatory clinic, home care environment, IT lab, and conference space, as well as a test version of KP's electronic medical record. This unique resource allows KP to analyze technologies, care delivery workflows, furniture, and facility designs in a mock environment that is as close to live as possible without the disruption in patient care that live testing would cause. Unlike most other health care organizations, KP now has a structure and resources in place to investigate technology vendor claims, markets, and trends independently and without bias. This is very much in the spirit of KP's approach to pharmaceuticals and gives KP an unquestionable edge in managing a growing health care IT portfolio.