Are you a healthcare startup enthusiast and often wondered how to get started in framing a problem statement that will fill a huge gap both in terms of a clinical need and a commercially viability?

In addition to the above question, healthcare also has a very complex environment and often not very inclusive in terms of encouraging the non-clinical backgrounds to interact and help problem solve too. Given the disruption that is underway with the consumer internet startups given the strong ecosystem built therein, healthcare is ripe for the same form of disruption but an ecosystem needs to be harnessed. The Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation (MSMF) was setup in 2014 with predominantly the same vision.We are empowering a series of interventions which is strengthening the healthcare technologies disruption. MSMF is based at the Narayana Health City which is an epitome of various forms of business model disruptions when it comes to cardiac surgery and using the economies of scale to bring down costs. Narayana Health is also the pioneer in designing the healthcare insurance program Yashaswani, which covers millions of farmers and peasants who pay an annual premium of Rupees 60 for comprehensive coverage of all surgical procedures and outpatient care. The scheme is unique in that it has overcome many of the problems associated with health insurance schemes for the poor (such as low levels of coverage and benefits).

The DNA to unleash new business thinking for healthcare morphed into a philanthropic unit which now encourages clinicians in-house at Narayana Health to prepare their research studies for an enterprise path and device a spin-off mechanism impacting healthcare delivery and affordability. The foundation also has the status of a technology business incubator under the Startup India initiative backed by the Government of India too.

The framework of a hospital environment with an innovation interface in the form of a translation research entity is the need of the hour. These structures give access to clinical samples, data and expertise that entails a breakthrough invention. Moreover, these structures will be ideally linked to state-of-the-art instrumentation to enable discovery and diagnostic delivery, and the experience to manage the resources and direct the developments.

Translational Research is the systematic movement of research findings into the development of innovative interventions, practices, and policies that may ultimately improve health and well-being, and also the use of knowledge derived from interventions, practices, and policies to inform research. We envision a bi-directional pathway between scientific research and community practice, bridging these two realms in more effective ways. Insights into the molecular and cellular basis of disease have been generated at an unprecedented pace in recent years, and the remaining challenge is to translate these basic research insights into clinical advances.

The conviction behind the Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation is the belief that only a vision, highly motivated by compassion can direct science towards intelligent innovations that convert today’s expensive medical discoveries into affordable solutions. The idea is to create a new hospital culture where every health-worker has ready access to resources for guided innovation at multiple levels.

Highlight Summary

• Clinical Immersion—Direct experience in the clinical environment in which medical devices are used
• Clinical Understanding—Improved understanding of diseases and treatment decisions
• Team Building—Common experiences away from the office in a clinical setting
• Idea Retention—More immediate understanding of the impact of medical devices on patient outcomes
• Hands-On Learning—Additional familiarity with the performance of medical devices inside the body
• Multi-disciplinary physician lectures and round-tables
• In-person procedural observation for small groups
• Internal broadcasting between clinical procedural areas and the startup teams
• Hands-on simulation activities