Companies looking to enter the digital health field face myriad legal implications unique to doing business in this sector. Whether emerging or established, companies exploring health care opportunities benefit from careful planning around complex issues such as pace of development, reimbursement systems, strategies for responsible data collection and use, and effective corporate compliance programs. In this podcast, McDermott partners Sarah Hogan, Lisa Schmitz Mazur and Dale Van Demark take a closer look at these and other important factors companies should review when contemplating a move into the digital health ecosystem.

Q. What issues should companies consider before they enter today’s digital health care market?

DV: The first and perhaps most important thing to focus on is the business plan. A lot of business plans that may work in other service sectors may not work in the health care industry because of the way that it is structured or because of consumer expectations.

Beyond that, there are real cultural differences that we see technology companies come up against when they enter into the health care market. Frequently, technology companies are used to a very fast pace. They are used to making mistakes and learning from them, and evolving and developing to move forward. The health care industry has traditionally been much slower and more deliberative, with the goal of getting it right the first time being predominant. That cultural difference can cause problems in building relationships and setting expectations for both pace and service levels.

Finally, understanding the complexity of health care infrastructure is very important. Understanding how the health care system works and how your product, service and business plan work within that ecosystem is critical to establishing the relationships you want and really selling into that marketplace. (more…)