Don’t quit your day job just yet – do the homework first. Starting a new company in the boomer/senior, mHealth/Digital Health tech space? I hear fairly regularly from those who have this intent. Maybe they have a prototype they have created. When I don’t hear first, sometimes I catch who they are through the modern-day miracle of Google Alerts. So maybe we chat, maybe I take a look at a website, learn how they are going about getting their funding, and I ask if they know about products that may be similar to what they are doing. Or have they browsed online catalogs, or spoken to non-profits (if that is one of the target audiences). Have they studied market sizings and surveys from Nielsen to Pew to the exuberant Semico Research? And so on. So here’s an updated set of advice for the pre-early stage:
Our smartphones, ourselves – are they useful for managing our own health? In 2009, Eric Topol, the wireless health medical prognosticator, noted that 'we would soon use our smart phones to monitor our chronic conditions.' Well, maybe – it all depends on what he meant by 'soon.' App developers are obviously struggling to identify a) an app that is useful and b) who the cohort is that would use it. Should you count recording weight, keeping food logs and tracking exercise as 'monitoring' a chronic condition? It might be more useful to put a smartphone in your pocket (assuming it fits) than to get a grip on another wearable but easily-lost small device. Take a look at the wearable band market and non-usage by the 55+. Note the easily-lost Fitbit (my sister has lost 3, I have long lost 2) in this Verizon Boomer Voice blog.
Robotics, accelerators, startups, apps and regulations…the roadmap for the future of healthcare is turning into a crowded highway. How can businesses take advantage of the burgeoning digital health sector without making a wrong turn?
Dublin, OH – January 22, 2014 – HealthSpot℠, a pioneer in patient and provider-driven healthcare technology, today announced a strategic partnership with MedAvail Technologies Inc., an innovative company that created the MedAvail MedCenter™ telepharmacy kiosk. This collaboration will enable HealthSpot station locations to provide high-quality, accessible pharmacy services in addition to acute care telehealth services, in locations where there is no retail pharmacy, such as employer sites and community locations.