Never mind reimbursement codes and getting doctors to adopt your new technology, patients are the ones who will make or break healthcare startups, according to one entrepreneur.
Homero Rivas, MD, is not only co-founder of Apps4Patients, a small startup that has designed and created several mobile phone applications for patients. He is also a Google Glass Explorer and is leading several research projects using Glass to improve safety in the operating room and to train surgeons with augmented reality. He is advocate of Hispanics in the USA and champions mHealth and telemedicine among them. He directs a massive open-online course on mHealth with over 15,000 registered students throughout the world.
Homero will be speaking on the first day of MedCity CONVERGE at 11:05 a.m. The third annual CONVERGE is July 15-16 in Philadelphia.
Payers, providers, medtech, pharma, digital health, startups and investors will all come together at CONVERGE to focus on healthcare’s greatest opportunities and challenges. Check out the agenda and register today.
To highlight the speakers before the conference, we asked them each a few questions.
What or who inspires your work in healthcare?
This is my passion, to help people in need, physical, emotional, etc.
Personally, my perspective of the ideal delivery of healthcare has radically changed over the last few years. I believe that the business model of medicine is very poor, and not scalable. Results are related to an artisanal practice, where one patient requires one or several care providers. My impact in society is very limited as I cannot do more than five surgeries per day, or maybe I could not see more than 100 patients per day. And this is working at a 100 percent efficiency. In essence, this is not scalable. Here is where my passion for mHealth and digital health takes a critical presence. By leveraging on mobile technologies, ICTs, etc, we could truly scale healthcare. This is my passion and I believe that this is the way medicine will be practiced to a great extent in the near future.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
What is your take on Apple’s Healthkit – nice try or category killer?
Nice try! Just like many other companies, they have identified the unique benefits of leveraging mobile phones, ICTs, wearables, etc, to improve delivery of healthcare. While they have a late entry into the market, they have a very strong brand equity and could potentially gain a good portion of market share. Yet I do not believe this is one of their core strengths and I do not believe they will become a leader in this market.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to an entrepreneur?
Listen to your end customers, in this case patients. I do not believe neither hospitals, physicians, care providers, etc., are the best customers. Patients will be the best customers and if there is a meaningful value proposition, they will drive any business to success. I believe successful entrepreneurs will identify voids in the market, multiple frustrations from players in the market, and then take action on this. Successful entrepreneurs should not just concentrate in innovations in medical devices, pharma, etc., but quite especially on innovative business models to improve efficiencies of healthcare and/or reduce cost of care.
You can find Dr. Rias on Twitter (@mHealthSurgeon) and LinkedIn.
