Last updated on Mar 26, 2024

What do you do if you're an entrepreneur in Working with Physicians and want to innovate in healthcare?

If you're an entrepreneur in working with physicians and want to innovate in healthcare, you might face some unique challenges and opportunities. Healthcare is a complex, regulated, and competitive industry that requires a deep understanding of the needs and preferences of various stakeholders, especially physicians. Physicians are often the key decision-makers, influencers, and users of healthcare innovations, but they are also busy, skeptical, and diverse professionals who have different motivations, pain points, and expectations. How can you successfully engage with physicians and create value for them and their patients? Here are some tips and best practices to help you navigate the healthcare innovation landscape.

1 Know your market

The first step to innovating in healthcare is to identify and understand your target market. Who are the physicians you want to serve? What are their specialties, demographics, settings, and behaviors? What are their problems, goals, needs, and desires? How do they currently solve their challenges or meet their demands? What are the gaps, inefficiencies, or opportunities for improvement in their workflows, outcomes, or experiences? You can use various methods to research your market, such as surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, or data analysis. The more you know about your market, the more you can tailor your solution to fit their specific context and value proposition.

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Courtland Imel

Consultant to FDA Regulated Industries
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I work with a number of physicians who have an entrepreneurial spirit. Many are members of SOPE - Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. For folks that are seeking to help industry help physicians, this is an awesome group to discuss mutual plans, gain insight from physicians, gain opportunities to develop your products and their expertise or vice versa, gain real world feedback, and mutually assist patients to a beneficial solution. I will admit that first ideas are only foundational for a mutual understanding and relationship. But finding mutual goals and agreements is the ultimate outcome. By gaining a mutually helping hand that benefits each other, drives the best outcome, and gains a beneficial product for the patient.

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🎙Dr Roxie Mooney, DBA

🚀 I help healthtech founders fast-track to their first million. 🚀 Healthtech Startup Growth Coach | GTM Strategist | Board Director | Fractional CMO 👉🏼 𝘿𝙈 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚
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Customer discovery is the first step if you want to innovate in healthcare. Too many entrepreneurs start with a solution and then try to find a problem. Or, they see a problem and build a million-dollar solution without validating demand first. That's why we have so many healthcare innovations that end up in the zombie graveyard. You have to start with a problem that a specific audience is willing and able to pay to solve.

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Laura Pasyanos

Founder and CEO of Southern Doula Services| Changing the way families are supported during the postpartum period
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I agree that market research is imperative. As an advocate for women’s health, I find all too often my work is driven by a strong passion to improve birth outcomes. However, passion alone can set me up for disappointment as I grow my business. This article is a great reminder to put in the research and have tangible value propositions to offer. Balancing passion with strategy is the key to success as an entrepreneur.

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2 Validate your idea

Once you have a clear idea of your market and their pain points, you need to validate your idea. Is your solution feasible, desirable, and viable? Does it address a real and significant problem or opportunity for your target physicians? Does it offer a clear and compelling benefit or advantage over the existing alternatives? Does it have a sustainable and scalable business model that can generate revenue and profit? You can use various methods to validate your idea, such as prototyping, testing, feedback, or pilots. The more you validate your idea, the more you can reduce the risk and uncertainty of your innovation.

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Denitsa Pencheva

Digital Marketer | SEO | Clinical Nutrition Resident
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Talking and truly listening to physicians (and other members of the healthcare team) at this stage is essential. It's easy to get excited about an amazing idea you had - and that's good news, but it can blindside you to potential hurdles or customer concerns. Doctors are quite busy so you won't always have the time to have long conversations with them - that's why you have to make your time count.

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3 Build your network

Another key step to innovating in healthcare is to build your network. Who are the people or organizations that can help you access, influence, or collaborate with your target physicians? How can you establish trust, credibility, and rapport with them? How can you leverage their resources, insights, or connections to advance your innovation? You can use various methods to build your network, such as referrals, events, social media, or partnerships. The more you build your network, the more you can expand your reach, exposure, and impact.

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4 Communicate your value

The final step to innovating in healthcare is to communicate your value. How can you effectively and persuasively convey your solution and its benefits to your target physicians? How can you overcome their objections, concerns, or questions? How can you motivate them to adopt, use, or recommend your solution? You can use various methods to communicate your value, such as storytelling, demos, testimonials, or incentives. The more you communicate your value, the more you can generate awareness, interest, and action.

Innovating in healthcare is not easy, but it can be rewarding and impactful. By following these tips and best practices, you can increase your chances of creating a successful healthcare innovation that meets the needs and preferences of your target physicians and their patients.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What do you do if you're an entrepreneur in Working with Physicians and want to innovate in healthcare?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Know your market

2 Validate your idea

3 Build your network

4 Communicate your value

5 Here’s what else to consider

Working with Physicians

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What do you do if you're an entrepreneur in Working with Physicians and want to innovate in healthcare?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Know your market

2 Validate your idea

3 Build your network

4 Communicate your value

5 Here’s what else to consider

Working with Physicians

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