(written by Bill Hunter, MD, President & CEO, Canary Medical for OrthoStreams)
After a little over a decade of participating in the field of digital health, I have reached the conclusion that successful companies follow a predictable pathway based upon the growing number of patients they have under management:
Digital health companies begin as patient monitoring companies, become diagnostic companies, and evolve into patient management companies.
The Hype Cycle curve for digital care delivery is progressing along the pathway described below in Gartner (S. Hakkennes, L. Craft, M. Jones, 2020). As we enter the “Trough of Disillusionment” – at least with respect to investor sentiment and valuations – it is fair to ask, where this is all heading? Is digital care delivery a fad or a game changer? In situations like this, my colleague Michael Raynor has trained me to ask, “What job will the new technology perform?” and “Will the new technology make that job better, faster, more efficient, cheaper, or easier?” If it doesn’t perform an important job (a job that needs doing) and do that job at least 2 or 3 ways better than however the job is currently being done, it’s pr...
