Category: Blog Posts

As a youngster, Saturday afternoon’s meant watching the A-Team. My favourite character was Hanibal, the ex-army colonel who always had a plan, and a cigar, to hand. The others all had some issue or another; BA’s poor people skills, Murdoch’s mental health challenges and Face’s loose morals. But, it was clear why Hannibal needed them. He couldn’t get the job done on his own. They had mission critical skills that he did not. He needed his team.

So you are a potential Health Tech founder. You have a great idea and a plan to make it a success. Now things get complicated. The next steps will involve forming a company, handling investments and accounts, developing software or physical products, marketing and dealing with staff… It will be impossible to know how, or have the time, to do all of these things effectively without help…

You need to form a team.

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Welcome back for part 3 of my 5 part series about the Health Technology Startup scene. These posts are based on my notes and reflections from the Doctorpreneurs Day Conference held at St Thomas Hospital London on Saturday 5th November 2016.

Whether you are a medic thinking about developing a health innovation outside of the NHS, or simply looking for fresh ideas about how to implement change within the health service, there is a lot which can be learned from the Tech Startup scene. Please see the other posts in this series.

• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅕ – The Founder – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅖ – The Idea – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅗ – The Team – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅘ – The Funding – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur 5/5 – The Pitch – Read here!

Today we will examine that most vital piece of the anatomy of a medical startup…

Assembling a winning startup team

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅗ – The Startup Team”

“Dr Ann Example looked across the meeting room at Dr Adam Fiction. Nice chap, talkative, lots of ideas. But, why do I find him stressful to be around sometimes?.. She pondered as she tried to think how his idea would affect her plans.”

“Adam paused for breath. Why doesn’t Ann seem interested in my idea…”

This post describes how we used personality type training at the practice to try and improve our effectiveness and reduce stress.

Practices are under resourced and under pressure. But the stakes are high and our decisions and results can have a huge impact on our patients. In this environment it is easy for friction to develop between staff. A large amount of practice time can be wasted dealing with conflicts. Sometimes people can fall out dramatically with destructive results.

To increase effectiveness at work, we know to invest in “hard skills”. These are specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured, such as how to process information, follow procedures and protocols and use equipment and software. When considering aptitude for hard skills, we often think of the (perhaps controversial) concept of IQ.

But “soft skills” are important too. These are less tangible, harder to quantify and include skills such as understanding motivations – our own and our colleagues, listening, small talk and building relationships. These are also vital for individuals and teams to perform effectively. These skills make up our Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

“EQ represents the capability of an individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, to use this emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt environments or achieve one’s goal(s).”  – Wikipedia

Raising EQ can improve the performance of individuals and teams. An effective way of raising EQ is to increase awareness of differences in personalities and preferred ways of communicating and working.

Personality Profiling A GP Practice

Recently at our Practice, we designed and undertook a team building session based on personality typing. We used the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) system. The aim was to help the team to better understand each other’s personalities, emotions and preferred ways of working.

Continue reading “Personality Profiling in (General) Practice”

Since antiquity, mankind has held a belief in the deadly sins. A list of seven infamous and destructive vices may not feel like the natural place to look for inspiration to help a health service creaking under a myriad of pressures and challenges.

But, there is one deadly sin that Doctors and other healthcare workers would benefit from indulging in more often.

• Gluttony? – Those christmas chocolates in the staff room are delicious, but you will regret eating too many and it doesn’t set a good example.
• Wrath? – We see injustice every day. However, revenge usually disappoints and escalates.
• Envy? – Being jealous of your friend who made a million in the city won’t help anyone.
• Lust? – Fraternising on the ward won’t help the patients.
• Sloth? – Laziness and not doing what you should will harm patients and your career.
• Greed? – Perhaps – Money is a good motivator, and pay is important, but the NHS is not the place to make millions.

I am thinking of course, of Pride!

The sin of pride is confusing.

We are proud of our children, our families, our heritage. Have you ever wished someone would take more pride in their work? Pride can motivate people to study hard and to do their best for others. Surely it is ok to be proud?

On the other hand, pride can lead us to be overconfident in our abilities, to believe that we are special and superior, and to ignore warnings thinking we know better. Pride can turn people into dangerous jerks.

Pride has always been part of the identity and perception of the medical profession. From the widely held image of the kindly and open minded yet educated and decisive physician to the stereotype of the arrogant and head strong old surgeon (sorry surgeons ;-)).

 

What is pride anyway?

Continue reading “Which deadly sin can help save the NHS?”

News Flash…

“As we enter the year 2027, the all knowing iNHS Super Intelligence – HUNT – H.ealth U.nder N.ew T.echnolgy, faces attacks and sabotage as out of work doctors, A.K.A. “Lub-Dub-ites”, continue to throw their stethoscopes into the gears…”

This week my attention was caught by this interesting Pulse article – “Artificial intelligence to replace call handlers in NHS 111 app”.

1.2 million patients in North London are to be offered assessment and advice via an Artificially Intelligent Chatbot using an App provided by Babylon, a private firm who already offer private video chat GP appointments for £25.

You can check out their app here – Apple Store, Google Play Store.

This news was met with sensible calls from Medical and Patient groups to ensure that the technology does not put patients at risk or overwhelm A&E and GP surgeries through inappropriate advice.

However, the news did get me wondering…

 

Are we on the cusp of a technological revolution in patient care?

… And if so, what does this mean for doctors?

Continue reading “Is AI coming for your doctor’s job?”

“Please report to the administrator’s office…”

It was the early 1980s and Dr Archie Brain was living in the nurses accommodation block. Whilst sprucing up his room, the cleaning lady had stumbled upon a collection of home made, orchid styled latex objects that had been hung out to dry. Suspicious of what use they might be being put to, she had reported the matter. Fortunately, Dr Brain was able to convince the administrator that it was all part of his legitimate research.

Changing the world of medicine can throw up all sorts of unexpected problems!

Those of you with an interest in anaesthetics will recognise the name. Dr Archie Brain invented the Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA). He took it from an idea, to a listed company (LMACO) and an essential piece of life saving anaesthetic equipment in use all over the world! His story holds some interesting lessons for would be health innovators.

Welcome back for part ⅖ of my series of posts about the world of health innovation and startup culture.  There is a hope and belief that through innovation and the application of emerging new technologies, medicine can continue to improve health and wellbeing outcomes whilst also meeting the challenges of rising costs, complexity and demand. Artificial Intelligence, Social Networking, 3D Printing, Smart Devices, the Internet of Things… The list and possibilities go on.

These posts are based on my notes and reflections from the Doctorpreneurs day conference held at St Thomas Hospital London on Saturday 5th November.

Today we will examine that most vital piece of the anatomy of a medical startup… The idea behind it all.

Part one in the series was an exploration of the “Doctor Founders” behind medical startups. If you missed it then catch up here.

• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅕ – The Founder – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅖ – The Idea – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅗ – The Team – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur ⅘ – The Funding – Read here!
• Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur 5/5 – The Pitch – Read here!

 

Where do health innovation ideas come from?

In essence, a health technology startup is built upon a solution to a problem or more specifically a need.

Doctors are exceptionally well placed to spot problems and to innovate solutions. Those without the valuable of experience working at the “coalface” of patient care are not so well placed to spot the unmet needs in healthcare.

‘Well all this holding of facemasks does seem to me to be a bit awkward really.’ – Thought Dr Archie Brain

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Doctorpreneur: Doctor led Startups Part ⅖ The Idea”