What are the digital health threats and oppportunities and what should digital health entrepreneurs do to take advantage of the them?

1. Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
President and CEO, Society of Physician
Entrepreneurs

2. Education and training
 As biomedical entrepreneurship education programs
evolve, more are offering specific interdisciplinary
courses and degrees in data science and digital health
entrepreneurship.

3. Boards and certification
 www.abaim.org
 ABPM board certification in bioinformatics
 Online AI certification programs e.g Stanford, MIT
 Interprofessional entrepreneurship

4. New medical school models
 Engineering degree required (SIU)
 Masters in Bioentrepreneurship
 Combined medical/engineering/computer
science/business
 New medical school curriculum (Kansas HSC)
 Data science/digital health/data literacy learning
objectives
 Innovation and entrepreneurship fellowships
 iCorps program

5. Resources, networks, mentors
 Social media
 Virtual conferences

6. Startup resources
 Accelerators
 Incubators
 Scalerators
 Hospital care innovation centers
 Pitch fests
 iCorps

7. New actors
 CMIO
 Chief Digital Officer
 Chief Innovation Officer
 Chief Health Innovation Officer
 Chief Medical Officer
 Chief Physician Engagement Officer
 Chief Transformation Officer
 Chief Wellness Officer
 Chief _______ Officer?

8. Side gig dating services
 AMA Physician Innovation Network
 Digital Health Pitch Fests
 Platforms connecting SMEs with industry
 Non-clinical executive search firms

9. Early engagement
 Physician digital health entrepreneurs and trainees
are getting more and more involved in the early stages
of new product design and development as founders,
advisors or consultants.

10. No residency to join startup
Some medical students are electing to not do a
residency after medical school to pursue startup
opportunities
Abbreviated clinical careers and side gigs

11. Validation and verification
 Digital health entrepreneurs are starting to
understand the importance of demonstrating clinical
validity of products and services by testing them in
human subjects

12. Big bets on digital health
 Investors are increasing their bets on digital health
entrepreneurs
 BIG TECH : Amedzon and others

13. Global Ecosytems
 The barriers to digital health entrepreneurship are
falling due to increasing collaboration of members of
emerging national digital health ecosystems and the
rise of accelerators.
 It is questionable whether accelerators focusing on
sick care delivery and processes deliver value

14. Tech transfer changing
 Academic medical centers are changing to move from
predominantly drug discovery and development
interest to include digital health ideas and inventions.
Several have rebranded their technology transfer
offices into innovation centers with a focus on inside-
outside collaboration.

15. IP and regulatory landmines
 The IP and regulatory landscape of digital health is
coming more and more into focus and importance

16. COINs driving change
 Bottom up, patient centered digital health
collaborations are becoming a major component of
product development and deployment

17. Digital natives
 Generational digital native knowledge, skills and
attitudes are driving the adoption and penetration of
digital health.

18. DIY medicine
 Remote sensing, pattern recognition and machine
learning will change telediagnostics to a consumer
electronics platform, further disintermediating
doctors

19. New business models
 The driverless electric car and sharing economy model
has come to medicine.
 Convenience
 Retail medicine
 Unbundling primary care
 Sick care to healthcare
 Virtual medicine

20. Changes in reimbursement
 Codes, cash and coverage change due to COVID
 Will they last?

21. Digital health side gigs
 Drop out docs
 Disproportionate burden on women
 Mismatch between what digital health startups want
and what docs can deliver
 There is no CMO school…yet

22. Convergence
 Health information/telecommunications technologies
AND
 Biopharma
 Medtech
 Remote sensing
 AI/ML
 Patient reported outcomes
 Telehealth/telemedicine/virtual care
 VR/AR

23. To do list
 Monitor and adapt to new regs, laws and compliance
requirements, IP trends and reimbursement changes
 Follow the money
 Compete for talent considering the future of work and
workforce development
 Beware of the “Amedzon effect” and adjust
 Learn to look around corners
 Find your sweet spot and stick with who brung you to
the dance

24. Summary
 Many remaining digital health gaps
 Sick care innovation and technology initiatives are
multilayered and inter-systematic
 Need to create and measure technological, commercial
and clinical value

25. Bottom Line
There are enormous and ever -
expanding opportunities for
HCPs who are interested in
pursuing them, BUT
What got you here won’t get you
there.

26. Thanks and questions
Arlen.Meyers@ucdenver.edu
 Society of Physician
Entrepreneurs
 www.sopenet.org
 Linkedin profile at
https://www.linkedin.com/
in/ameyers/