PeerCapital, 2070 Health, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are got together for the second edition of HealthCraze. This initiative brought together entrepreneurs, operators, academics, policymakers, and investors from the healthcare sector in a discussion for another glimpse into the future of health innovation complete with opportunities and challenges.
Set against the backdrop of the Indian economy, HealthCraze acknowledged the role of startups as the frontrunners of transformation and the latent potential that healthcare innovation harbors for value creation. With this backdrop, the participants started off by discussing AI in healthcare: the many value propositions it holds across patient care, clinical workflows, and clinician augmentation, areas where they are witnessing steady adoption, and finally, methods for balancing its challenges and benefits.
The many use cases of AI in healthcare can be split into low implementation solutions that mainly address administrative functions like insurance verification, coding, note-taking, etc., and high implementation solutions largely used for clinical decision-making. There are early signs of adoption in the former with clinicians and hospital systems addressing staff shortages and optimizing costs with such solutions. For the latter, participants concurred that it was the right time to build such tools but they emphasized the need for vigilance to ensure strong data integrity, guardrails, and accuracy. For instance, AI hallucinations, where large language models generate false information or facts, was a prevalent concern.
Participants felt that while building the product, AI developers should keep in mind the target audience and the value proposition for them. Pankaj Jethwani, CEO at 2070 Health, said, “It is imperative for AI solutions to demonstrate a return on investment for potential customers. This can be in the form of cost savings due to replacement of outdated systems or enhancement of operational efficiency, or reduction in liabilities by decreasing human errors.”
Shifting gears, HealthCraze-II also delved into understanding how the concept of inflection point is defined in healthcare and how startups reach it. One way to define inflection point is – it is the pivotal moment in a startup’s growth trajectory when there’s no longer a need to explain the category they belong to. A good measure is the mummy test – if you can explain the category to your mother/parents without having to provide an explanation, it means that the category is well understood across age groups!
“Inflection points can manifest at the product, geographic or enterprise level, varying with categories. For B2C solutions, organic customer acquisition signifies establishment, while reliance on programs/doctors indicates developmental stages. For B2B players, a key measure is sales cycle contraction – conversion from skeptic to immediate payer that is. – the day they don’t need a trial and are willing to pay from the first day,” explains Rohit, managing partner – PeerCapital.
Transitioning from AI and inflection points, the conversation shifted to a topic often left in the shadows: founder burnout and stress. The group recognized that uncertainty-induced stress was an intrinsic part of the job, and the discussion was focused on how founders can de-stress and how the ecosystem can offer institutional support.
These candid conversations revealed the importance of seeking a third-party perspective – a mentor or a coach from the industry – to navigate the complexities and prioritize effectively. All participants agreed that having platforms to converse informally played an essential role in providing a safe space for such conversations and fostering genuine connections. Gatherings such as the Healthcraze not only spark insightful dialogs but also create an environment where mentors, contributors, and founders can engage at a personal level. The essence of the HealthCraze platform is not only to share information but also to nurture conversations, bridge gaps, and pave the way for a brighter future for healthcare in India.
