Venture Beat posted an interesting list of 5 keys to creating a successful digital health startup company:
1. Simplify providers’ workflow
2. Usher in the pay-for-performance era
3. Help doctors by empowering the entire care team
4. Don’t create lists; create actions
5. Build relationships between providers and patients
This list reminds me of something a venture capitalist once told me about the physician market. He said that there are only a couple things that doctors have ever paid for. Doctors pay for something that will drive more patients or make them more efficient. That’s reflected in some of the points above and is a good lithmus test for people looking to start a digital health company focused on doctors.
The EHR (Electronic Health Record) marketplace was a bit of an aberration in this regard. It originally started out with doctors purchasing an EHR in order to make them more efficient, but then the $36 billion of stimulus money through gas on a fire and it’s blown up in some people’s faces since they were focused too much on the government handout and not enough on the efficiency that the EHR would provide.
The EHR golden age is gone and we’re now returning back to a more rational market that wants to see some potential efficiency improvement or revenue increase before they buy. The above list highlights some of the places you may look to provide a doctor that efficiency.
