Whether you work for a large established company or a brand new startup, all organizations are re-evaluating their strategic plans for future growth and expansion. Capital is being funneled into startups like never before and large companies are positioning themselves for future acquisitions and consolidation.
This week I focus on content that highlights the perspectives of venture capitalists, population health scientists, and large companies on how they are preparing for the future. All of the material is uniquely intertwined with the mantra of “Build, Don’t Break”.
WEEKLY FORMAT 1 - Podcast 1 - Health Care Article 1 - Venture Capital Article 1 - Tweet
Podcast
Hament Taneja (General Catalyst): Build, Don’t Break
I’ve actually listened to this podcast twice in the last week. Hamant Taneja, who is the managing director of General Catalyst, sits down with Tom Byers for the Entrepreneurial Thought Leadership (ELT) podcast sponsored by Stanford University. They discuss his general philosophy of venture capital and how to build sustainable and enduring companies.
Hament has been pivotal in helping many digital health startups success (think Livongo), and I found some of his comments very intriguing given his overlap and focus on the health care industry. He stands by the mantra of “Build, Don’t Break” which implies that entrepreneurs needs to focus their efforts on making a positive impact to society, rather than complicating our current systems.
Give it a listen.
Health Care Article
To Innovate In Population Health, Start with the Basics
During a recent MedCity INVEST Pop Health panel, a few questions were asked about how to begin deploying population health related projects and initiatives. Often times companies focus on the complexities of a problem before identifying the basics (I’m sure each of us within our respective professions have encountered this more than once).
This article reviews a scenario where a small primary care practice began collecting data within their EHR, and how they quickly encountered the nuances of data integrity and analysis. On the onset, they wanted to dive into the details of applying AI to better serve their population. Shortly thereafter, they realized they needed to begin with the basics to identify the right definitions of data, align it with national standards, and control any variables they may encounter.
Although this may sound rudimentary, it is a topic that I try and remind myself of every single day. Whether you are a project manager, an AI specialist, or working in a new startup, this is a good reminder to start with the consumer in mind and stay simple.
Venture Capital Article
Some of The Biggest Companies In The World Are Breaking Apart. Here’s Why.
Make way for “The New Consumer Health Company”. I’m sure many of you saw that Johnson & Johnson announced late last week that they would be splitting their portfolio into 2 distinct publicly traded companies. One will continue to focus on pharmaceutical and medical devices (COVID-19 vaccine), while the other will aim at consumer health related products (Tylenol, Listerine, Band-Aid, and you can’t forget the baby shampoo!).
Why do I think this is a big deal? It will allow J&J to strengthen their product skews and acquire health related startups like never before.
In the article, the J&J CEO states: “While our broad-based approach has historically served us well, addressing the complexity of today’s global health care and consumer environments now demanded unprecedented focus, innovation, and agility”
My guess is that we will continue to see many companies begin to take similar actions as they assess their strategic plans. It’s obvious that we see a lot of health care startups being funded now, but for the big established companies, they are preparing for future acquisitions.
Tweet
In the vein of building for the future, it is essential for health systems to have guiding principles that help them set goals for quality, patient safety, affordability, and access.
Stanford Health Care is a Vizient organization, which helps us continually monitor and improve our quality standards. We all understand the complexities of determining quality standards within a health care environment, but having worked for many academic medical centers, I can say that Vizient does a great job at helping health care organizations improve. So, in the vein of continual improvement and building things for the better, it is exciting to see that Stanford Medicine continues to thrive from a quality and patient safety perspective!
“In the midst of a pandemic, which demanded so much from health care workers, they never stopped providing top-quality care to all our patients.” – Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine.”
See you next week.
Kyle Asay 
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