Positioning for healthtech startups
Position a healthtech startup against the workflow buyers use today. That is often an electronic health record, a spreadsheet, or paper and fax. Separate the person who uses it from the person who can block it. Say the job in their words. If you touch protected health information, say whether a business associate agreement is part of the sale.
On this page
The record they already run is often the alternative
Clinic and hospital buyers rarely start from a blank page. The alternative is often a workflow inside an electronic health record they already run, such as Epic or Oracle Health, formerly Cerner, or a workaround beside it. Dunford’s first step still applies. Ask what they would do if you did not exist. If the answer is a screen in that record, your position has to say what that screen does not finish.
Protected health information is a purchase question
Buyers will ask whether you create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information, and whether a business associate agreement is in place. HHS describes a business associate, generally, as a person or entity that does that work on behalf of a covered entity, or on behalf of another business associate. The covered entity needs the written agreement before that disclosure. HHS also lists arrangements that are not business associates, including one provider sending information to another for treatment. Answer from what the product does. This is not legal advice, and it is not a headline until you know the answer.
Steps
List the people in the deal
The user, the sponsor, and the person in IT, security or compliance who can stop it.
Ask about last week
What they did in the record, or beside it. A real week, not a wish list.
Write one line per person
Same position. The user hears the workflow. The approver hears the risk and the agreement.
Attach proof you can show
A workflow in their language, the agreement when one is required, a reference from a similar setting.
Hold clinical claims
Until the product and counsel can stand behind them. A positioning line is not a regulatory filing.
Illustrative lines
| Reader | Line |
|---|---|
| Front desk | Today’s visits are confirmed before the huddle, without a separate call list. |
| Clinic owner | No-shows sit on the same list you use to staff the day. |
| Person who reviews vendors | Scheduling stays in your record. Here is the agreement we sign when we touch patient information. |
Fictional. Acme Schedule is not a client. It imagines scheduling for an outpatient clinic. Use the third line only when the agreement is real.
FAQs
Should HIPAA be in the headline?
No. Buyers need the job first. The agreement answers a question they will ask. It sits beside the claim.
What if we do not touch protected health information?
Say that if it is true. Do not offer a business associate agreement as a badge. HHS’s definition turns on what you do with the information.
Is the buyer the clinician?
The clinician may be the user. A practice owner, an administrator or a security reviewer may decide. Write for the people who show up in your deals.