Digital health platforms must take a page from Big Tech companies — and largely do the opposite to succeed in healthcare, per an MIT Sloan Management Review article.
Healthcare is a much different business than retail, hospitality and tech and must be treated as such by digital health companies looking to succeed, the researchers wrote in the study,
"Health Care Platforms Need a Strategy Overhaul."
Digital health platforms won't replace industry services, a la Airbnb or Amazon, but complement them, so the companies should concentrate on a "narrow and well-defined scope and integrate with established ecosystems," the paper's authors said.
And unlike big social media platforms like Facebook that just want more users, digital health startups should focus on the quality of their user data, using it to improve operations and business development, according to the sturdy.
Digital health platforms also aren't Apple with its centralized app and developer ecosystem — they operate under "distributed orchestration among physicians, health care organizations, governments, insurance companies" — and must act accordingly, participating in the development of regulations, the authors wrote.
"Digital healthcare platforms, if done right and implemented well, can be a large step in solving the productivity crisis in healthcare," said Johan Frishammar, a study author and professor of entrepreneurship and innovation in Sweden, in a March 11 news release. "There is still much to be explored in what these platforms can do and should do, but ultimately they can make healthcare more accessible, more affordable, and more improved."