From left: Moderator Linda Finkel, president of AVIA; Swatee Surve; Brad Ryan; Dr. Raj Khandwalla; and Alyssa Jaffee
Solutions from innovative healthcare startups are increasingly bringing value to the table. But not every entrepreneur in the space is seeing his or her idea being adopted by health systems or funded by VCs.
During a panel discussion at MedCity INVEST, Dr. Raj Khandwalla, director of cardiovascular education at Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation and assistant professor at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said part of the problem is the culture at hospitals.
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“Academic medical centers and health systems in general tend to be highly bureaucratic and highly monopolistic,” he said.
Investors can also be challenging to woo. Alyssa Jaffee, senior associate at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, said she’s looking for two characteristics in a startup: the fact that they’re solving a true pain point and that the founders are the best people to be solving the problem.
But checking all the right boxes still isn’t always a guarantee. Dr. Brad Ryan, chief commerce officer of Apervita, said sometimes an organization sees the value in a startup’s solution and knows it has a solid business case. But when it comes time to pilot, the answer is: “Oh gosh, no. We don’t have the resources.”
So what should early-stage companies do?
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Swatee Surve, founder and CEO of Litesprite, a Bellevue, Washington-based startup, shared a few recommendations. “I think it’s also important for a digital health company to look at your intervention,” she said. “What is it that you need to move your business further?”
She added that collaborative conversations around the product are crucial to advancement. For new companies, being able to respectfully answer customers’ questions is key to driving innovation.
Ryan suggested remaining on good terms with a health system. If the company’s niche area isn’t a top problem area for the hospital’s CEO, that’s OK. The startup should keep honing its multi-dimensional skillset and get in touch with the health system when the timing is right.
And last but not least, don’t build technology just for technology’s sake. As Jaffee succinctly advised healthcare startups: “If you build it, they won’t come.”
Photo: Jack Soltysik
