Two statements heard Thursday at the Connected Health Symposium in Boston sum up why so many digital health startups fail.
During a keynote session on designing for change, Amy Cueva, founder and chief experience officer of Mad*Pow, a design studio based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, offered this:
“Oftentimes in health, we have ‘shiny object syndrome.'”
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In other words, entrepreneurs are designing technology that looks good but lacks heart and empathy. “I believe that empathy … can guide us toward a positive human impact,” Cueva said. “Our empathy helps us find our purpose, gives us direction and fuels our drive.”
Later, Dr. Jeffrey Benabio, physician director of healthcare transformation at Kaiser Permanente, spoke during a breakout session on how hospitals evaluate startups for potential partnerships. He noted this:
“Entrepreneurs are putting money into consumers and wearables.”
A integrated health system might have lots of money and lots of patients, but its focus is on improving care and lowering costs of providing care, not on selling consumer gadgets. “It’s a difficult road for an organization like Kaiser Permanente.”
