Health-tech startups in healthcare service delivery: A scoping review

Imon Chakraborty; P Vigneswara Ilavarasan; Sisira Edirippulige

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113949

Health-tech startups in healthcare service delivery: A scoping review

Soc Sci Med. 2021 Jun:278:113949. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113949. Epub 2021 Apr 19.

Authors

Imon Chakraborty¹, P Vigneswara Ilavarasan², Sisira Edirippulige³

Affiliations

¹ UQ-IITD Academy of Research, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India. Electronic address: imon.chakraborty@uqidar.iitd.ac.in.
² Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India.
³ Centre for Online Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PMID: 33901972
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113949

Abstract

Background: An efficient and affordable healthcare service delivery to everyone is a prerogative of the national governments. Such delivery is quite exacting, and gaps remain. In this regard, startups are trying to disrupt the market with innovative solutions and reach the underserved market. Though anecdotal evidence remains, a rigorous literature review is missing. This paper attempts to understand the status of health-tech startups in healthcare service delivery.

Methods: We scanned a total of 110 journals - Financial Times top 50, top ten information systems journals listed by the Australian Business Dean Council, and the top 50 Scopus indexed journals in health informatics and health information management. We followed a systematic process for this scoping review - reading of titles, abstracts, and then full papers for final analysis based on inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: A total of 76 articles met the inclusion criteria. Only five studies portrayed the status of health-tech startups in healthcare service delivery. To capture the overall startup ecosystem, we continued with a scoping review of all the 76 articles.

Discussions: The identified five themes are Technology adoption, Electronic health services, Business planning and framework, Psychographics, and Regulations. There is evidence of technology adoption in service delivery and its nature in the businesses undertaken by startups. Very few studies represented the patterns of the existing business model. The acceptance of the services is dependent on service effectiveness and affordability. The challenges are licensing, policies, data privacy and security, and inadequate technology access among healthcare seekers.

Conclusions: Albeit the feasibility potential, research concerning the impact of health tech startups in healthcare service delivery is emerging but incipient. The review indicates that research on startups is inadequate, especially related to entrepreneurship, business frameworks, and regulations. Future research should explore the same.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health-IT; Health-tech; Startup; e-health.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Australia
Delivery of Health Care
Ecosystem*
Entrepreneurship
Humans
Medical Informatics*