The startup movement can be witnessed across all platforms and as it continues to expand globally, the medical sector in particular is seeing a surge in entrepreneurial ventures dealing with many aspects of the field, be it health tech, marketing or inventing tools facilitating the doctor and patient relationship.
More specifically, doctors are now playing a big role in the creation and development of these health care startups, by either advising or even creating their own business.
Actors behind this trend are less concerned about money than indeed transforming healthcare, and fixing the current model of care that is simply often problematic for both patients and practitioners. Dissatisfaction with clinical practices and administrative burden such as the doctor’s appraisal process, also fuels this newly found passion for tech.
That’s why an increasing number of this new generation of practitioners – recently dubbed “doctorpreneurs”, are actually moving to the health tech sector to collaborate with engineers on passion projects that might well soon revolutionize the way we see healthcare in the very near future, all over the world.
1. Oscar Health, New-York, USA
This hip New York-based health insurance startup was created in 2012 by CEO Mario Schlosser. It promises better care, at a lower cost and to revolutionize “health insurance through technology, data and design”. This new generation health insurance company has shown promising results in just a few years and is likely to encourage other entrepreneur to try and disrupt the market.
2. Access mobile, Uganda
The medical startup trend isn’t a phenomenon reserved exclusively for a bunch of engineers hiding out in trendy offices in the Silicon Valley. Medical startups in Africa have started to emerge to help bring medical advice and care to a greater number of people, especially in rural areas where access might be difficult.
Access Mobile, founded by social entrepreneur Kaak Yelpaala is one such company, that “builds software solutions for healthcare providers to better improve the health of their patients through mobile phones”.
3. HealthLoop, Mountain View, USA
Health IT startup HealthLoop was founded by practicing physician, Dr. Jordan Shlain. It provides software and data to help doctors track their patients between visits and identify those who might be at risk. The technology can be used by practices, and rolled out to hospitals and employers, enabling connectivity between all parties of the healthcare system.
4. Babylon, London, UK
Babylon was created in 2013 by Ali Parsa. It officially launched in 2014 and is currently only available in the UK. The service enables patients to have video consultations with doctors and offers many other health services such as symptom monitoring and prescription renewal. Babylon has quickly been hailed the Uber of healthcare and is currently used by more than 250,000 people in the UK.
