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It’s almost the end of 2017 and at the moment, innovation is rampant in almost every industry across the globe – heck – even the mattress industry is going through revolution, with the invention of the smart mattress that monitors you during sleep, changes temperature and adjusts your upper body to help you stop snoring…
Whether you like the smart mattress idea or not, the point here is, people are finally taking a second look at common objects and services we had become accustomed in the past.Unsurprisingly, the health care industry is also going through some changes and now, we have a number of different startups that aren’t afraid to ask the question: Is there actually a better way to do this?
And if you’re one of these people, we actually have some good news for you – this is actually the perfect time to get into the health care business. According to recent a Plunkett Research study, total health care costs last year reached $3.3 billion and are projected to reach almost $3.8 by the end of the next year. But while more money brings more business opportunities, it also brings more competitors.
So if you want to launch an innovative startup in the health care market, there are a couple of industry-specific things you need to have in mind if you want to bypass some common obstacles on your way to success. Now, without further ado, here are some specific things you need to know about the health care industry before founding an innovative startup…
All of the Rules Are Pretty Serious
Unlike most of the industries out there, health care is quite heavily regulated by the authorities. This is pretty common sense when you think about it – the government needs to protect everything form patient privacy to provider care. And that’s why entering the health care industry seems so impossible for so many young entrepreneurs today – abiding to all of these regulations is big task to say the least.
And what are some of the rules you need to abide by? For starters, you have the FDA, the HIPAA and the recently-passed Affordable Healthcare Act… And that’s just the beginning. The question you have to ask yourself here is – are you really ready to put enough work to make sure that your startup doesn’t break the rules?
If you manage to get familiar with all of these rules and regulations, your effort won’t go unnoticed and you’ll definitely be awarded. Once you learn to work through the whole process, you’ll see that things aren’t that complicated after all – they just require a lot of patience and focus. In the end, you’ll even have a decent competitive advantage…
You Can’t Go Against Established Companies
You want to be an innovator, right? While a disruptive mindset can be valuable, it can also be potentially detrimental to the success of your startup. Think of it as this – breaking into the health care industry is similar to breaking into the tech industry – you’re entering the market that already has a number of established companies.
If you want to see any success, you’ll have to collaborate with them and not work against them. Companies that are aware of this fact are the ones that are making the biggest impact in today’s health care industry. For instance, just look at Google Capital-backed startup Oscar that managed to mix things up by offering unlimited fitness incentives and telehealth visits to consumers.
All in all, anyone that want to find success in this industry needs to work with both government and corporate companies like insurers, hospitals and regulators. You need to find the right people to work with – your team should consist of experienced industry professionals and talented up-and-comers alike. So it would be smart to look into UMAT tutoring programs and search for potential talent.
Mobile Technology Rules the Industry
Most successful people get struck by a fantastic idea while they are simply experimenting with existing technologies – one moment you might be clicking around a certain app and just a few seconds later, you might realize that you can actually apply this technology to health care. And the health care industry in a dire need for connection at the moment, so this is something you need to look into.
People these days are accustomed to instantaneous access to any piece of data they want. Consequently, people want to have the same access to information and communication in their health care experience. So it’s not surprising that a vast majority of today’s health care startups is trying to enter the mobile health care tech market.
According to a recent Rock Health study, more than 80% of modern consumers are using at least one health app – and in the next couple of years, that number is only going to grow. And new uses of already-existing technologies such as secure texting have made it possible to modernize communication between patients and their doctors, while protecting the patient privacy.
The Bottom Line
We’re not going to lie – no matter how much the economy has improved in the last couple of years – getting a health care startup off the ground is not an easy task by any stretch of imagination. However, you should also keep in mind that there are plenty of opportunities out there, the consumers are rather receptive and the rewards are enormous.
So the bottom line is this – you need to familiarize yourself with all of the rules and regulations; accept the fact that you need to partner up with some of the established players in the field and that mobile tech is currently the sweet spot in this industry sector. And it doesn’t matter if this is your first attempt to launch a startup – you’re bound to make some mistakes along the way, just try to learn from them.