Resource:Developing healthcare tech innovation through cross-disciplinary collaborations

First, find what you want to do. 

This sounds really trivial, but healthcare is massive field, and it's important to narrow down the field most important and pertinent to you. It's easy to get lost so it's important to pick one specific area to focus on. If you don't choose a specific focus you'll find yourself going in a million directions at once, and your world of concern will expand rapidly. Pick one very specific area.

Next, figure out the skills you need. 

The reason healthcare tech is so difficult, is because it requires cross-disciplinary collaboration. It's impossible to tackle the healthcare world without knowledge in many different area. For example, if you want to create a medical device you'll need a plethora of skills. First, the medical know-how, next the hardware building, and finally the software that goes along with it. RIght there you can see a team of doctors, MechE's and computer scientists tackling the problem. In order to successfully collabore, you'll need a very specific set of skills outlined! Don't rush into the project thinking that you're gonna figure out who and what you need as you go along. Plan out and figure out the specific skills that will be needing during the project. 

Get a team of skilled people together, and go for it!

In the healthcare sector, it is extremely difficult to get a project or idea off the ground as an individual. It is  important to complete the project as a team in order to get multiple perspectives . Joining an incubator space, regulatory firm, or University Research group could help one get their idea reviewed by different people from different disciplines. However, most of the individuals in these spaces will have knowledge on helathcare in genereal. There are a multitude of laws and regulations on helathcare innovations which call for projects to be specific and defined. 

Tailoring your innovation 

Being aware of current trends in healthcare technology is vital to your success. The more specific your product is, the better. However, make sure your product is not too speicifc that the market segment is so small that there is little to return on investment. Bundled services are a huge part of the market today. Hospitals want services but don't want to pay huge prices for products individually. Meeting with other innovators in incubator spaces and creating alliances could help make a stronger sale to hospitals. 

Written By: Monique_Ndagha