How the clinical entrepreneur is innovating health care

Facing ongoing issues with affordability, cost, and quality, the time is ripe for bold clinical innovation in the health care industry. Years of traditional cost-cutting measures haven’t led to meaningful improvements, and many clinicians feel frustrated by persistent practice challenges.¹ Enter the clinical entrepreneur—the new face of health care solutions. Discover how clinicians are using their front-line experiences to develop impactful innovations and accelerate digital health transformation. Learn what organizations can do to help amplify their impact.

Nurturing clinical entrepreneurship

A hybrid role for clinical innovation

Think of a mix of practitioner, scientist, and entrepreneur—that’s the essence of the clinical entrepreneur. When health care professionals combine their clinical expertise with business acumen and a vision for transformation, they can clearly articulate real-world problems and develop forward-looking health care solutions.

Cultivating and supporting the clinical entrepreneur

Providing education, mentorship, and funding can give clinicians the agency to fix the very challenges that affect them daily. Organizations can accelerate clinical entrepreneurship by:

• Offering programs and incentives that encourage entrepreneurial activities.
• Investing in upskilling.
• Adopting generous equity and revenue-sharing models.

Health care solutions from vision to implementation

Because clinical entrepreneurs gain unique insights from direct patient care, their involvement throughout the innovation process can provide:

• Vision and subject matter expertise in early stages.
• Advocacy for adoption and change management.
• Guidance for workflow development during testing.
• An advisory role as solutions are refined.

Full-cycle participation ensures that clinical entrepreneurs meaningfully contribute to the development and commercialization of transformative health care solutions.

Evolving clinical innovation

Historically, academic medical centers drove most breakthroughs, but the future envisions innovations emerging from diverse health care organizations and a broad clinician community trained in entrepreneurial skills. Rather than relying on traditional technology transfer, forward-looking organizations can:

• Grant more generous ownership interests to clinical entrepreneurs.
• Test and deploy solutions within their own health care systems before commercialization.
• Explore early-stage investments from venture capital, private equity, and other third-party collaborators.

Such measures can help foster a culture of clinical innovation and incentivize clinicians to participate in transforming health care.

Creating a culture of clinical innovation

Building sustainable clinical entrepreneurship across your health care organization will likely require four fundamental elements:

The evolution—or revolution—of health care?

As health care organizations address long-standing challenges in care delivery, efficiency, and customer experience, clinical entrepreneurship emerges as a powerful catalyst for transformation. Clinicians, with their extensive insights, can help drive both innovation and sweeping change when supported by committed leadership, customized training, and adequate funding.

The benefits of a robust clinical entrepreneurial model cannot be understated. Clinicians can gain renewed purpose, agency, and financial rewards, while health systems can capture economic growth and foster a culture of innovation. Will your health care organization embrace the next generation of clinical entrepreneurs?

Learn more by downloading the full report, and reach out to one of our practice leaders to discuss how you can spark this transformation.

Endnotes

¹Ha Hoang and Markus Permann, “Physician entrepreneurship: A study of early career physicians’ founding motivations and actions,” Social Science & Medicine 339 (December 2023): 116393.