Perfect Tech Isn't Enough: A Founder's Guide to Healthcare Innovation
Lisa Voronkova
Hardware development for next-gen medical devices | Author of Hardware Bible: Build a Medical Device from Scratch
The Value Journey
Every year, countless brilliant medical innovations die before reaching patients. Not because they don't work - they work beautifully. They fail because they can't prove their value to decision-makers in healthcare systems.
Consider this common scenario:
A startup develops an AI system that can detect sepsis hours before current methods. The technology works perfectly in trials. The clinical data is impressive. After 18 months and $2.3 million in development, they're ready to transform patient care. But they can't sell it to a single hospital.
This isn't a unique story. It's a pattern that plays out repeatedly in healthcare innovation. The hard truth is: great technology alone doesn't succeed in healthcare. Understanding and proving value does.
Over the past decade, working with hundreds of healthcare innovations, we at OVA Solutions have seen that success depends not just on what your technology can do, but on how well you can demonstrate its worth to multiple stakeholders.
The Four Stages of Value Development
Through our work with healthcare innovators, we've identified four distinct stages in the value journey. Understanding where you are in this journey is crucial for your success.
Stage 1: Considering Value
At this stage, you've:
This is where most startups begin, and it's characterized by enthusiasm but limited understanding of real-world healthcare economics.
Stage 2: Understanding Value
Here, you've progressed to:
This stage often brings the first reality check about the complexity of healthcare value demonstration.
Stage 3: Quantifying Value
At this point, you have:
This is where theory meets reality, and you begin building your value case with real numbers.
Stage 4: Communicating Value
Finally, you're:
The Reality of Healthcare Economics
Let's talk about money - because in healthcare, financial reality is complex. Here are some numbers that matter:
Understanding these constraints is crucial. They're not just numbers - they're the boundaries within which your innovation must succeed.
First Steps in Your Value Journey
If you're starting your healthcare innovation journey, here's where to begin:
Beyond Clinical Success: Understanding True Value in Medical Innovation
How to Actually Prove Your Value
Let's get real about something: proving value in healthcare isn't like selling a new phone or car. It's way more complicated. But don't worry - I'm going to break it down into simple steps that actually work.
The Money Talk: Healthcare Edition
First, let's understand how money works in healthcare, because it's pretty wild:
Think of it like this: hospitals are like a business that can barely afford to buy new tools, even if those tools would help them make more money later.
Crazy, right?
The Three Types of Value You Need to Show
1. Clinical Value (Does it help patients?)
2. Money Value (Does it save or make money?)
3. Practical Value (Can people actually use it?)
The Big Mistake Most People Make
Here's a story that happens all the time: a company makes an amazing device that can scan patients super quickly. They say it saves 20 minutes per patient. Sounds great!
But they forgot about:
When you add all this up, that 20-minute saving doesn't look so impressive anymore.
How to Do It Right: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Map Everything Out
Think of this like drawing a map of everyone your device affects:
Step 2: Count Everything
For each group from Step 1, figure out:
Step 3: Do the Math (But Make it Real)
Let's say your device saves nurse time:
But don't stop there! Think about:
Step 4: Put It All Together
Now you can show:
But also be honest about:
Real World Example: The Smart Patient Monitor
Let's look at how this works in real life. A company made a smart monitor that could track patients automatically. Here's how they proved its value:
Before Their Monitor:
With Their Monitor:
They showed exactly:
Your Action Plan
Remember This
Success in healthcare isn't just about having amazing technology. It's about showing how that technology makes life better for everyone - patients, doctors, nurses, and hospitals. And most importantly, you have to prove it with real numbers and examples that people can understand and believe.
Beyond Clinical Success: Understanding True Value in Medical Innovation
Part 3: Making It Work in the Real World
Remember when smartphones first came out? Some people loved them immediately, but many said, "Why do I need this? My regular phone works fine." Healthcare is a lot like that. Even when you have something amazing that clearly works better, getting people to actually use it is a whole different challenge.
The Hidden Challenges Nobody Talks About
Let's talk about what really happens when you try to bring new technology into a hospital. Imagine you've created something amazing - maybe a device that helps prevent surgical complications. You've proven it works, you've shown it saves money, and you've got all your numbers right. You're ready to change healthcare forever. But then reality hits.
First, you discover that the hospital's WiFi doesn't reach all the operating rooms. Then you learn that the nurses work in shifts, so you'll need to train people around the clock. The IT department tells you they can only install updates at 2 AM on Sundays. And the surgery scheduling system? It runs on software from 1995.
This is the real world of healthcare innovation. It's messy, complicated, and full of surprises. But don't worry - I'm going to show you how to handle it.
Why Good Technology Often Fails
I once worked with a company that made a brilliant system for preventing medication errors. The technology was perfect. The savings were obvious. But it failed in its first hospital. Why? Because they didn't realize that nurses often give medications while patients are sleeping, and their bright tablet screens woke people up. Such a small thing, but it was enough to make the staff hate using it.
Another company made a fantastic AI system for predicting patient complications. But they designed it assuming doctors would check it every hour. In reality, doctors were so busy they could only check it during morning rounds. By the time they saw the warnings, it was often too late.
The Secret to Success: Start Smaller Than You Think
Here's the most important advice I can give you: whatever size implementation you're planning, cut it in half. Then cut it in half again. Then maybe one more time.
Why? Because every single thing takes longer than you expect in healthcare. Training that you think will take a week takes a month. Integration you think will take a month takes six. And during all this time, you're burning through money and patience.
Start with one department, one shift, or even one team. Get it working perfectly there. Learn all the weird little things that go wrong. Fix them. Then, and only then, start growing.
The Three Month Rule
In healthcare, three months is a magic number. That's how long it takes for people to either accept a new way of working or reject it completely. During these three months, you need to:
First month: Focus on making it work technically. Fix bugs, smooth out integration issues, make sure everything functions correctly.
Second month: Make it easier to use. Watch how people actually use your solution (not how you think they should use it). Fix the annoying little things that bother them.
Third month: Prove it's worth keeping. Gather data about how it's helping. Show the staff how much better things are. Make them want to keep using it.
The Power of Champions
Every successful healthcare innovation has what I call "champions" - people inside the hospital who love your solution and help make it succeed. Finding and supporting these champions is crucial.
Look for the people who get excited about your technology. The nurse who keeps suggesting improvements. The doctor who tells their colleagues about it. The administrator who sees the potential. These are your champions.
But here's the key: you need to give them the tools to help you. That means clear data they can show their bosses. Simple explanations they can give their colleagues. Quick answers to common questions.
Making It Stick
Getting a hospital to try your solution is one thing. Getting them to keep using it is another. Here's what works:
Make it part of the routine. Your solution should feel like a natural part of the workflow, not an extra task.
Show progress constantly. People need to see that things are getting better. Share success stories. Show improvements in numbers. Make the benefits visible.
Keep improving. The version you install should not be the same version running six months later. Keep making it better based on feedback.
Stay connected. Don't disappear after implementation. Keep checking in. Keep solving problems. Keep showing value.
Looking to the Future
Healthcare is changing faster than ever. What works today might not work tomorrow. New regulations come out. New technologies appear. Patient expectations change.
Build flexibility into everything you do. Make your solution adaptable. Plan for change. Think about how you'll handle new requirements or integrate with new systems.
The Final Truth
Success in healthcare innovation isn't about having the best technology. It's about making that technology work in the real, messy, complicated world of healthcare. It's about understanding the people who will use it, the systems it needs to work with, and the problems it needs to solve.
Start small. Pay attention. Keep improving. And most importantly, never forget that at the end of all this technology and business, there are real people trying to help other real people get better.
Find me on LinkedIn - Lisa Voronkova - and message me mentioning this article - I'll send you our Investor-Ready Pitch Deck Template for MedTech Startups, free. It's the same template we use with our clients to help them raise millions in funding.
The cutting-edge medical technology deserves a sales & marketing strategy just as it advances.