Commercialization Challenges and Approaches for Digital Health Transformation

Abstract

This article summarizes the individual perspectives of the authors as presented in the culminating commercialization session at the UC San Diego organized and hosted Symposium on New Clinical and Commercial Opportunities in Digital Health Symposium held “virtually” in December 2021. Boni outlines four, iterative steps to guide the introduction of products successfully into the complex and challenging emerging digital health landscape of opportunity. First, identify solutions for potential adoption into this very complex and emerging market based on a needs- drivenapproach. By this, we mean by engaging and observing users, customers, partners, and competitors to identify potential entry and growth opportunities/solutions that are capable of creating change and adding significant value to all parties in the healthcare ecosystem, e. g. patients, physicians, providers, payers, and partners. The second step is to focus on developing a platform solution vs. a single product solution for these opportunities. Platforms are designed to leverage extended networks, and to be scalable as markets evolve and are proven. The third step is centered on building a diverse entrepreneurial team that is charged with identifying and validating opportunities; to act under enlightened and active leadership; and, to use a lean, entrepreneurial approach to sequentially reduce risk incrementally and validating value creation. This lean or agile approach leads to identification of an appropriate Minimum Viable Product (MVP) & Market Entry Point (MEP) – that can be scaled later as the market and solutions evolve. Fourth, we advocate leveraging fundamental, entrepreneurial methodologies and frameworks that have evolved and been validated over the last decade in other fields of innovation: e. g. Disruptive Innovationfrom Christiansen; Blue Ocean Strategyfrom Mauborgne & Kim; Design Driven Innovationfrom Roberto Verganti; and, the Business Model Canvas of Osterwalder. All can be used toalign and validate key components of business models in digital health. We include some example companies that have succeeded commercially, and some that have failed to successfully commercialize technologies in digital health. Abremski then goes on to discuss the formation and evolution of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE) at UC San Diego, and the organization and approach that UCSD has taken to accelerate innovations originating in their laboratories and healthcare system. He also profiles several emerging digital health companies originating at UCSD