Turns Innovation, physicians are key for input on biomed innovation and new tech

Much has been made of the looming shortage of physicians. But there’s one place where the shortage is being felt acutely, is talked about even less, and the effects will ripple far into the future: the founding of new biomedical startups.

We live at a time when technology is dramatically transforming not just the field of biology but how biology-driven companies are built. It’s now entirely possible to create innovative and scalable new companies in the field with relatively modest initial funding. In other words, it’s salad days to be a bio startup, with so many new tools, data sources, and ideas at our disposal.

Yet there’s a moment of failure that crushes many such startups: when the new tool or technology connects with the real world of patients, physicians, medical records, hospitals, and insurers. That’s when a physician who can navigate the nuances of the medical landscape is needed: one with an innovative mindset who can explain how the new product will function in the system, or touch a patient’s life, or integrate into a doctor’s day. For many startups, finding that person is the hardest personnel problem to solve.

The input and direction that practicing physicians can add to biomedical startups is invaluable. Beyond clarifying how a new technology or product might affect the current health care system, their experience in the clinic and with the health care system provides key insights into company strategy, direction, and growth. Physicians often have the answers to essential questions such as: What are the logistical challenges of how health care is delivered? What are the financial incentives for providers? Who “controls” access to patients — and their lab samples — for clinical studies and for patient care? How do we align the interests of providers and patients, so these innovations make sense for both?

Equally invaluable are their lived experiences as physicians. These can help shape the development and validation of assays for patient care, along with a host of regulatory requirements. These experiences also help them understand the difference between technological capability (can we do it?) versus a clinically unmet need (should we do it?).

Without physician innovators as part of the creative team, many potential innovations will die in the cradle. Applying novel technologies to creating new therapies, preventing illness, and reducing health care costs requires connecting these technologies with patients and the realities of the health care system. And that requires a physician’s mindset, training, and experience

The lack of physician innovators becomes all too visible as new companies grow and the rubber hits the road. All too often, new entries to the market lack a clear understanding of the clinical needs at the patient-physician level, or address an administrative challenge instead of a patient problem. The result is a hodgepodge of products rather than a system of mutually supportive and well-integrated ones, which in turn leads to inefficient systems in the health care system writ large.