Thread by @dia_trahman, Had a good chat w/students focusing on building a product focusing on [...]

Had a good chat w/students focusing on building a product focusing on mental health + ML
Without giving away specific details, I am sharing some high-level topics and resources which further highlights the current digital health landscape in Ontario and

(not exhaustive)

1/

Navigating the system to take something from ideation to scaling phase factoring in commercialization

What bargain power do each of these stakeholders have and who to choose first? (money, IP, network effects, research, talent)

gov’t

industry

clinical/academic

2/

Implications from using healthcare data, especially for mental health

lack of interoperability within and outside of hospitals

perceived risk

Opportunity cost from using algorithms to aide medical decisions (privacy +security, authentication, legalities)

3/

Supply and demand of psychiatrists per capita in Ontario and in

Psychiatrist practicing

in hospitals
vs

independently as a clinic

That determines how risk is perceived by them for using telemedicine for mental health

4/

From the patient side of things...

In a marketplace, you need a service provider to attract paying consumers (patients).
This pandemic especially has shown us that patients are willing to pay out of pocket

Demand> Supply

5/

Marketing/Brand

An ML product performing well on itself is different from how a product is positioned <insert infamous IBM example>

The scrutiny amplifies when it comes to an ML product focusing on mental health

How do you position a product that is a black box on itself?

6/

'Data is the new oil' -> but not really

How to answer questions about monetary incentives about gathering data (i.e. selling to insurance companies etc)? From VCs, industry vs academic partners?

7/

Buy-in & Co-founders

The Healthcare and healthtech industry is a very gated ecosystem.
In order to succeed, buy-in/involvement from stakeholders with a direct clinical background is a must.

Exhibit; most known startups and companies in Ontario and Canada

8/

Post-Covid Telemedicine

What are the gaps & opportunities in the user flow for patients and providers using telemedicine?

triage (single queue vs multi-queue system)

clinician burnout (telemedicine is virtual, the processes still mimic paper-based system)

pharmacy

9/

Vertical vs an ecosystem (opportunity cost)

Do you want to be known as another x,y,z option for telemedicine?

or

Do you want to be known for the specific tool/algorithm you built to bridge the current gaps within telemedicine user flow?

10/

I shared/asked more (which I don't remember, but will share if I remember)
The conversation lasted over 1 hour even tho we scheduled a 30 min call.

Following are the links

Asynchronous vs Synchronous communication in telemedicine

Next-gen telemedicine will have fully embedded and encrypted asynchronous communication (email + text) available 11/ https://twitter.com/dia_trahman/status/1266760509392642054?s=20