The Four Areas of Focus that Healthcare Entrepreneurs May Be Missing

Extensive research conducted at the Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Babson College has revealed several unique areas of critical concern for entrepreneurs in the healthcare space. To help address those needs through continuing education, the Center is launching a new online Health Entrepreneurship Short Course Series. online continuing education series. The first course, Healthcare Entrepreneurship: People, Process, and Outcomes will take place Thursday, June 8 from 8:00 to 9:30 am ET.

Research methodology

In a multidisciplinary literature review, the KMH Center’s researchers discerned similarities and differences in the domains of healthcare management and entrepreneurship. There followed an interdisciplinary four-phase Delphi study that integrated qualitative data between researchers across the two domains.

Research findings: Healthcare entrepreneurs MUST focus on these four action areas.

The KMH Center researchers found that healthcare-specialized entrepreneurship exhibits four distinct areas of challenge unseen in any other field of entrepreneurship. They are:

• The actors, who are highly specialized and team-focused.
• Entrepreneurship activities, which encompass gap recognition, discovery, and problem solving in a fluid, innovative, and heavily regulated environment.
• Entrepreneurial processes, which require equal attention to evidence and ethics.
• A pair of vital outcomes: health outcomes for patients and financial value for the organization.

Introducing a new framework for healthcare entrepreneurship

By identifying these unique challenges, the KMH Center has been able to define a specialized framework for healthcare entrepreneurship, which it will introduce in its new Short Course Series. Babson Associate Professor Wiljeana Glover, PhD, who will conduct the June 8 workshop, said:?

Our analysis challenges the assumption that healthcare entrepreneurship is merely entrepreneurship within the context of healthcare — that best practices from other industries can be effectively “dropped in.” Instead, our new framework emphasizes novel divergent themes, demonstrating the importance of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.

She also outlined the areas of action for which workshop participants will become equipped to better address:

Workshop participants can expect to take away new perspectives and practices emphasizing the importance of specialization, team building, ethical evidence-based development, health and financial outcome measurement, and controlling complexity. Additionally, the KMH Center created this framework to empower positive societal impact: As healthcare ventures become increasingly successful, their patients will increasingly benefit.

Healthcare Entrepreneurship: People, Process, and Outcomes — Online Workshop June 8.

The first workshop in our online Health Entrepreneurship Short Course Series will take place Thursday, June 8 from 8 to 9:30 am ET. The instructor will be Babson College Associate Professor Wiljeana Jackson, PhD. She is the Stephen C. and Carmella R. Kletjian Foundation Distinguished Professor of Global Healthcare Entrepreneurship and Founding Faculty director of the Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

This workshop is designed especially for:

• Clinicians and scientists who are considering launching new ventures
• Healthcare startups
• Prospective MBA students
• Incubators and entrepreneurial faculty and university staff

Please note that the workshop will be limited to 45 attendees.

Workshop registration and information

About the KMH Center

Founded in 2019 The Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship (KMH Center) at Babson College aims to provide cutting-edge experiential learning, research, and advanced education and mentoring to entrepreneurial leaders in the health sector globally, including more than 1,400 Babson alumni in the health sector.