Until relatively recently there was a divide between electronic information and clinical healthcare. Neither camp knew much about the other. Neither industry had use for each other.
Growing from a small effort of individual clinics the use of electronic health records to a large software-medical industry the progress has been unrelenting but steady due to federal subsidies.
An offshoot has developed to harness the technology which augments the use of the EHR as a central repository for remote data,
Dreamers are visualizing a health care system dominated by information technology, while clinicians are in a conundrum about loss of personal contact and automation.
The theoretical and Reality
This progress is not much different for any startup, not just in healthcare. The valleys are different for each industry. In healthcare they are:
No scientific validation
The “break things and move fast” attitude can lead to the lack of appropriate scientific evidence for a solution. If start-uppers cannot wait enough to scientifically back up their product or service – marketing their product without enough scientific evidence or conducting clinical trials on small sample sizes, short duration of the study and other internal biases - they should not even consider starting their business in the first place – or they end up as Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.
Everyone knows the story. The most successful female entrepreneur in medicine, the youngest inventor in healthcare and her promise: one drop of blood – and the patient will know more about their illnesses than in their whole life before. Theranos promised to also dramatically cut costs, to be flexible, easily portable and above all – reliable. Unfortunately, most claims proved to be false, and there’s not even evidence that the technology ever worked.
Forgetting patients and diversity
Although the goal of most healthcare products and services is the improvement of patient outcomes, the most painfully common mistake a digital health company can do is forgetting patients. Yet, having a leadership team that is a mix of healthcare, technology, consumer and design improves the odds of success. Without understanding patients’ preferences and needs, it is impossible to create valuable solutions. Moreover, they should be included in the entire process – from the idea to solve a specific problem through design, product development, launch, and follow-up.
2) Not taking into account care providers
Healthcare is a tricky business. In many cases, start-ups create a service or product for better patient experience, but they actually sell it to care providers: doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, paramedical staff, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, etc. And even if they don’t directly come in contact with all the different stakeholders, they might feel their presence.
Even such a giant tech company as Amazon had to take a different path than it planned when it came to pharma. Jeff Bezos’ company decided to give itself a head start in the pharmacy business by purchasing PillPack, a mail-order pharmacy company for 1 billion dollars in June 2018. The reason for the purchase was actually that Amazon had to abandon its original plans of selling pharmaceutical drugs through its Amazon Business marketplace, although it would have been the obvious choice. Why? Partly because it has not been able to convince big hospitals to change their traditional purchasing process, which typically involves a high number of middlemen and loyal relationships.
(29) 10 Reasons Why Digital Health Start-Ups Go Bust | LinkedIn
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