Joshua Liu

At SeamlessMD, we think a lot about the future and the role technology will play in making healthcare better.

To stay relevant in healthcare, we need to think about the future a bit differently. Whereas you have technology giants like Facebook already trying to bet on what come’s next after mobile, in healthcare it’s more important to focus on how to best leverage current technology than to build a future that the healthcare industry isn’t ready for.

This is true for a few key reasons:

1. Adoption of new technology in healthcare is slow

Mobile & wireless health, cloud computing, etc. in healthcare is still in its infancy. Even web hasn’t reached it’s full potential in healthcare. Despite the clear benefits of technology, healthcare delivery and information remains fragmented in many places and a lot of work still needs to be done to shift the current culture.

2. Incentives are complex and take time to change

It’s only because of recent shifts in healthcare funding models and legislation driving adoption of health IT that we have begun to see uptake. As useful as what comes next in technology might be for healthcare, new funding models and policies will have to drive its adoption before it captures any interest among healthcare providers – and these policies take years to develop.

3. Switching costs for health technology are high

The first mover advantage in healthcare is massive. Traction today is much more valuable than knowing what will come tomorrow. Even if you build a better solution today, healthcare providers will require you to integrate with the legacy systems of yesterday because the switching costs are perceived as too high. Unfortunately, this means incumbents have less motivation to innovate, and innovator’s dilemma is less impactful.

So what does this mean for healthcare startups?

The number one reason healthcare startups fail is a poor understanding of the forces at work in healthcare right now. It’s not enough to build something useful; to build something that one group loves. What you build must create value across all stakeholders (patients, providers and payers) and in alignment with the external forces at work today (funding models, policy and legislation, broader technology trends).

Building a better healthcare system today is hard enough. Whoever wins today will have the opportunity to build a better healthcare system for tomorrow. Hopefully the system responds by working with those of us who truly believe in building a better future.