Being a startup in any industry is a difficult and uphill climb. Creating a startup in the medical industry can be particularly difficult. Patients develop attachments to their providers. In the medical field, there are big, established names, and building patient trust as a new name may seem impossible.
Organic growth for a medical startup requires diligent research on target markets, attention to SEO, and strategic social media maneuvers to build awareness and engagement. Trust is the essential undercurrent of all of this development.
The Difficulty of Growing a Medical Startup
On the path to scaling their businesses, digital health startups may face numerous challenges. These are some examples:
Government Regulation: One of the most significant roadblocks for digital health startups is the plethora of government regulations that medical companies must follow. Learning the ropes and ensuring that your organization is always compliant is an important part of running your digital health startup.
Not Understanding Payments or Insurance: A startup may have a great idea in theory, but if they can’t wrap their heads around insurance reimbursement (when applicable) or how to get paid, they’re doomed to fail.
Staying in an Echo Chamber: The only way to know if a startup, medical or otherwise, will thrive is to take it to the “world stage” and beyond the inner circle. A real-world application is required for an idea to grow.
Spreading the Word About Healthcare Transformation
Digital health startups are formed when someone has a novel idea that has the potential to change the way we approach healthcare in the United States and around the world. Organic growth occurs when an idea spreads widely and takes hold, resulting in increased use of the product or service. Once the concept has been established, the startup can move forward with ways to improve on the original concept and provide more and better services and support to the patients they serve.
My company, PatientPartner, for example, began as a way for surgery patients to connect with mentors who had experience with their specific procedure. We quickly grew to include links to doctors all over the country, as well as specialists in joint replacement, weight loss, cosmetic surgery, and women’s health. As we expand, we will continue to add services, support resources, mentors, and physicians to our roster. We reinforce progress by implementing best practices for organic growth, approaches that have successfully engaged patients, and building name recognition.
Best Practices for Organic Growth
What are the best practices for supporting the growth of digital health startups? Given the number of startups entering the market these days, relying on a few SEO tricks or a website and expecting successful organic growth is unrealistic. To be heard above the din of thousands of startups vying for attention, a company’s technology must be significantly improved.
Organic development should prioritize the following:
Engaging Content: When it comes to organically scale your startup, content is everything. What you post on social media and your website matters when it comes to attracting the attention of your target market.
Reallocate Funds to Product/Service Development: If funds are not reallocated into new products and services, stagnation can occur. A startup must continue to innovate in order to grow.
Well-Defined Niche: Ensure that your medical industry niche is well-defined and well-described for the patient market. You will not grow if patients do not understand how you can assist them or why they require your product or service.
Clear Expertise: In order to build patient trust, which is critical to the success of a digital health startup, you must establish your organization’s medical expertise. In an age when misinformation and “Google research” frequently take the place of expert advice, displaying a clear expert platform provides patients with a trusted advisor to whom they can turn.
While organically growing a digital health startup can be difficult, it is possible to achieve growth through planning, best practices, and always remembering why you started in the first place. The world requires your expertise, and patients will only benefit if startups continue to grow and innovate.
Learn more from Health and read How To Market Your Health Business Online in 2021.
