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If you’re looking to start your own business, the medical industry is a very lucrative one – particularly medical technology. There are plenty of opportunities for starting your own company in medical tech. Even with all the resources and technology we have at our fingertips today, half the world’s population lacks essential healthcare services, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, the number of deaths worldwide caused by poor quality care overtakes the number of deaths from diabetes or AIDs. Even though technology promises to transform healthcare, the industry is often slow to adopt it.
However, innovation in healthcare tech is happening much faster than most of us realize. In 2018, $9.5 billion funding was raised for a medical tech startup. Eventually, healthcare will adopt technology all over the world.
What to Expect
Entering the healthcare tech market as a startup is not simple. Complexity and considerable friction are created by the presence of:
- Governments
- Regulatory bodies
- Insurance companies
All of these influence prices and policies that will affect your start-up. And, many of today’s healthcare tech solutions fail to address consumers’ real pain points. So, it’s important to thoroughly research your market before you begin.
Choosing a Target Market
Whether your technology product is going to be an app or a device, there are several markets in the healthcare industry to consider targeting.
- Doctors: If you’re developing an app for doctors, then be mindful that most doctors tend to be cautious about the apps that they use. Check out these three apps that are successful amongst doctors to get an idea of what they’re looking for.
- Patients: Patients are an easier market to target compared to doctors, as they are more likely to try new technology. Patient-centric care can be both achieved or enhanced using mobile devices.
Some popular app types to develop for the medical industry include:
- Mental health mobile apps: Apps that help people to manage and improve their mental health are getting more and more popular. Patients want to lead a balanced, healthy life and sometimes an app that reminds them to breathe, walks them through breathing exercises, or allows them to get their emotions out through journaling can help.
- Doctor on-demand apps: More and more patients are beginning to contact their doctor and other health professionals online, which helps avoid unnecessary visits to medical facilities and makes it easier for patients with mobility issues, for example, to get medical care.
- Medical diagnosis apps: Doctors and other healthcare professionals tend to look for value-drive products that can help them make evidence-based decisions regarding the condition of a patient.
Is It Worth Getting a Qualification?
With the medical tech industry so difficult to break into successfully, you might be wondering if it’s worth getting a qualification to help improve your knowledge and skills before you start building your startup. A qualification like this eMBA can also be very useful for networking; allowing you to meet with industry professionals who are best positioned to offer help and advice.
Studying for an MBA before starting your medical device company can provide:
- A deeper knowledge of business in general
- Knowledge of what to expect when starting a company
- Technical skills
- The chance to network and meet people who can offer help, advice, and resources
- The chance to meet entrepreneurs who have built successful startups and businesses in the medical technology industry that can help point you in the right direction and give you valuable, first-hand industry advice
On the other hand, you might feel that there’s not much point in paying thousands of dollars and spending a few years getting a degree. If you’d rather find your own resources, then it’s definitely worth looking at:
- Online courses designed to help entrepreneurs looking to start a medical tech business
- Healthcare technology websites and blogs
- Healthcare technology magazines
- Technology blogs and magazines
- Healthcare and technology podcasts
- Healthcare industry influencers
- Health IT conferences
Get as much information as you can to help you ensure that you’ve got the right idea with your startup and know that you are going in the right direction.
To better understand the ecosystem of healthcare and potentially get additional coaching and funding for your startup, you may want to consider joining a digital health accelerator or incubator that helps startups. Investors join these in cities across both the US and Europe, helping early-stage companies access capital, talent and functional resources like lab or office space. If you want to start a medical tech company, there’s plenty of potential for making it big. But since healthcare can be slow to adopt new tech, it’s important to make sure that you’re fully prepared.