Technology Intervention in Healthcare: Are We Adding “REAL” Value?

Every Single Day I am discovering startups which are working in the healthcare domain with some or other technological intervention. Whether it is in e-pharmacy, online doctor consultation, doctor discovery platform, online diagnostics booking facility, SaaS for channel partners like pharmacy, laboratories, etc.

One thing which is very evident from the evolution of many healthcare ‘Real’ brand names that we hear is that gestation period seems to be quite longer compared to other industries because of the nature of consumer i.e. patient him/herself as well as the end result which is good quality of life.

Interestingly many startups are getting added into the pool of B2C vertical; just to realize at certain point of time that way forward must be B2B and not B2C. Which leads me to think that why scaling a healthcare model in our country is difficult? As per my opinion reasons can be different like: 1. “Trust” between the patient and service provider 2. High CAC 3. Increasing Competition 4. Less Value Addition for the patient 5. Identifying the right ‘consumer’ / ‘payer’

In the last few years; I have observed that many pharma companies have also started building solutions around patient education, adherence, etc. which previously used to be in conjunction with many companies engaged with HCP communities.

Not to forget there are bunch of startups doing wonderful work in the space of medical devices as well. But again the question is same; what should be your go-to-market strategy? Also very important factor is the domain expertise available to the leader at the top because if we see healthcare then the dynamics around it are different from normal consumer startups. When it’s about startup everything seems to be incomplete without valuation, funding which is available to the companies in the industry and if I see recent fund flow in the healthcare then it is evident that capital is available to second time entrepreneurs. So, does this mean that first time entrepreneurs should be restricted to being bootstrapped only?

I have written this short article to learn from the experts out here about the way forward for many aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to try their luck in the healthcare…

About Author: Yatindra Jha is a core member of Your Health-Key. He has been working on various healthcare verticles and he is also a passionate reader and content writer.