Especially in healthcare. Although truthfully, if-you-build-it-they-will-come has rarely worked well for any company, Apple being one of a handful of exceptions.
But, according to John Brownstein from Boston Children’s and Adam Landman from Brigham and Women’s it definitely doesn’t work in healthcare. These two fine gentlemen put the record straight on that in a recent Rock Health podcast.
John and Adam are each responsible for innovation centers at their respective hospitals, so they’ve seen their fair share of pitches. So, what really counts…? Well, anyone who’s been around healthcare for very long will have heard of the quadruple aim. Building on the IHI’s triple aim, the quadruple aim looks to:
- Improve population health
- Increase patient satisfaction
- Reduce per-capita healthcare spend
- Improve care-giver satisfaction
And the quadruple aim is a must-have for start-ups looking to impress both men. As John states, “We want to understand how that product meets the IHI’s triple aim, and I would extend that to the quadruple aim.”
So what does that mean in practice for would-be healthcare entrepreneurs?
- Your product should address a sizable population, not just a handful of patients.
- It’s got to fit seamlessly into a patients lifestyle.
- It has to be more cost effective than existing approaches.
- Finally, at the very least it can’t increase the workload on clinicians. And trust me, in my experience, if you can reduce the burden on caregivers, you’re golden.