How to Launch a Breakthrough Innovation From Concept to Mass Adoption w/Sarah Sossong
"You have to have leadership buy-in and vocal endorsements at the highest level." -Sarah Sossong
When it comes to commercializing breakthrough innovations, how you position yourself in the category and the ability to find the right partners are key. How can you fund new innovations and overcome physician adoption challenges? How do you get the top healthcare leaders to support the innovation? What are some of the elements that can become barriers to market success?
On this episode, I’m joined by health tech investor, digital health innovator, and health systems operator, Sarah Sossong. She is one of Fierce Health’s “influential women reshaping health IT”, and she pioneered large-scale innovations from concept to mass adoption and national recognition. On this show, Sarah shares her insights and advice to healthcare innovators.
3 Things You'll Learn
1. Language and messaging are key in the mass adoption of innovations
Language and messaging can make the difference between people adopting a technology or rejecting it. It is very important in radical commercialization. In Sarah’s example, getting people to buy into a telemedicine model was about where patients felt the message was coming from. If it was coming directly from the physician they would be more likely to accept it as opposed to what felt like a robocall.
2. Focusing more on the technology, and not the problem you’re trying to solve, affects your innovation
A lot of healthcare innovators put too much focus on the technology, and not the problem they are trying to solve. Innovations that put more focus on the problem have a higher chance of success. To avoid falling into this trap, think of things in terms of prioritization within the organizational strategy. The steps to this are prioritization, impact, readiness, and complexity.
3. How to make it easier for a physician to adopt your innovation
No matter how good a physician’s system currently is, there’s always a way improve how they are doing it. To get them to adopt an innovation, use the same mechanism they are already using so that it’s easier for them to want to use it.
There are a lot of barriers to the adoption of innovation, but many of them can be mitigated by laying the right groundwork and taking the right steps. Leadership buy-in, leveraging internal champions, and starting with a problem instead of a technology are some of the ways you can ensure the success of your innovation. Whatever you do, think long-term— not just about what you’re doing right now. Think about the parts of the innovation that are the most scalable beyond the present moment or the pilot phase.
If you want to maximize ROI and avoid market failure when launching and commercializing your healthcare innovation, let’s talk! Click drroxietime.com to book your free 30-minute strategy session.
Guest Bio
Sarah is a health tech investor, digital health innovator, and health systems operator. She is the Principal at Flare Capital Partners. Go to https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsossong/ to connect with her, follow @sossongsarah on Twitter or email sarah@flaircapital.com.