(Let’s get) Digital
Let that App hear your body talk…
80’s cultural reference with a pun turned into a cheesy meme — I think I just caught up with the year 2005.
How Digital is my startup?
Memes aside, it is important for every startup, especially in the Health Tech world to ask themselves — How Digital are we? If the answer is not — A lot, then it’s time to reconsider your solution. A lot of digital is needed in Healthcare, as patch work solution will only get you so far, and we need to go a lot farther in the Healthcare industry.
Healthcare industry is an analog hellhole
Intuitively, it makes a lot of sense for Healthcare to be analog — after all, it’s an industry that’s predicated on patient-physician interaction. This makes sense as someone who’s sick needs to be seen by a Doctor or a healthcare provider. Unfortunately, this embedded thinking goes way beyond treating sick patients. It is a pervasive solution to every problem, especially preventative health.
Preventative health is the ugly step child of the system that focuses on treating the sick. So it’s not surprising that traditional methods used to treat the sick are prescribed to solve this problem.
Preventative health is an asynchronous problem
Life is asynchronous and so is everything that drives it, especially health. Preventative health is a 24/7 problem and it makes sense to use a 24/7 solution.
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Healthy living that is needed to prevent diseases like Diabetes and other chronic illnesses is driven by a complex interaction of genetics, stress, sleep, food, exercise, gut health, and environmental factors like weather, traffic, etc.
Inducing healthy habits to people who may not have exercised for decades, gotten used to eating without thinking, sleep deprived and unable to cope with stress requires Asynchronous creativity.
Don’t worry there’s a 90’s solution on hand!
The current solutions that are prescribed to solve this problem rely on analog solutions. Take for example, the CDC’s prescription for Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). The program is a well designed and very successful — it is also very costly and difficult to scale.
It also imposes a lot of time commitment like attending coaching sessions every week, keeping a food journal, tracking every step and reading copious amounts of information. It feels like going back to school after 20 years to complete credits to get your diploma!
If cars can drive themselves?
Then why can’t a fully digital solution drive you to a better health? The answer is, off course, it can and it will! The era of true digital solution to Healthcare problems is upon us, especially around preventative health.
The confluence of readily available medical & genetics data, live data stream from IoT (wearable devices, biosensors, activity trackers), combined with ubiquitous smartphone usage, cloud infrastructure, and increased digital literacy will lead us to a truly digital future.
An app can definitely keep you healthy!
Don’t let the more than 100,000 Health Apps fool you into believing that a truly digital solution has already been built. They are an important part of the evolution, but we’re not there yet. There is a lot of enthusiasm, but it is still amateur time.
The startups that take true ownership of health outcomes on behalf of their customers are the ones that will succeed. It is the 24/7 commitment to the health of the users, that will get them to the podium.
Let the digital games begin!
