Creating digital health applications requires product managers employ a unique and specific skill set, one that is often only learned by effective collaboration with clinical and administrative personnel. The learning curve can be very steep! Everything from how medical usability studies are conducted to best practices developing front-end requirements that conform to the FHIR data model for interoperability are nuances that can make or break your product development lifecycle. Learn what to look out for as a product manager working on a digital health application and set yourself up for success.

1. Product Management & The
Nuances of Digital Health Apps
Shelley Iocona, Product Strategist at ON ITS AXIS

2. Objectives
• Gain an understanding of why this topic is important
• Learn common applications of healthcare in the digital space
• Review terminology, common use cases and innovation frameworks
• Learn how to succeed as a healthcare product manager

3. Background
Product Strategist |
Entrepreneur | Helping
Startups & Enterprises
Innovate
Shelley
Iocona
Over 15 years leading
innovation through strategic
planning, business operations
management, discovery and
new product development.
Strong experience validating
ideas using a lean approach.
Driven to help entrepreneurs
and startups gain footing in
the marketplace, and mid-
market companies identify
new areas of profitability.
About Shelley Certifications
@onitsaxis
Product

4. Global Healthcare Challenges
United States
Spending is 17% of
gross domestic
product (GDP)
China
Spending is growing
at a rate of 16%
Global healthcare costs,
currently estimated between
$6-7 trillion, are projected to
reach more than $12 trillion
within seven years
Spending Keeps
Rising
[Source: National Healthcare Expenditure
Projections, 2010-2020. Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary.]

5. Healthcare Industry Goals
Improved Patient Satisfaction/Experience
Reduced Cost
Improved Quality of Care
Population Health Management
Optimize the health system taking into account
three dimensions: the experience of the individual;
the health of a defined population; per capita cost
for the population

6. “We’re seeing an interesting convergence of
technology, medicine, social issues, and human
progress.”
– John Nosta, Digital Health Philosopher
The Rise of Technology in
Healthcare
• Using Technology to Enhance Healthcare Delivery
• Reducing Time in Hospital Through Improved Surgical Outcomes
• Improving & Expediting Diagnosis
• Enabling Remote Patient Monitoring
• Advancing Disease Prevention
[Source: MIT Technology Review: Technology:
The Cure for Rising Healthcare Costs.]

7. Recent Innovations

8. Healthcare Product Lifecycle
The steps to commercialization are often long and arduous
Classify the healthcare product
Step 1
Identify healthcare claim
Step 2
Determine healthcare market
Step 3
Develop regulatory strategy
Step 4
Establish product development plan
Step 5

9. Execute product development plan
Step 6
Execute clinical plan (if applicable)
Step 7
Collect data for regulatory submission
Step 8
Collate regulatory submission data
Step 9
Ensure compliance
Step 10

10. Healthcare + Product Management =
Huge Opportunity
• Lack of Product Management Function Leads to Failure
• Product Managers Who Understand the Industry AND Technology Are Needed
• Healthcare Still Very Waterfall; Lean Principles Are Needed Across The Lifecycle
• Discovery, Persona Development and Customer Interviews Are Critical
• Clinician Behavior & Patient Behavior Difficult to Understand, Influence & Change

11. Nuances in Requirements &
Design
• Compliance & Regulatory
• User Discovery & Research
• Workflows across clinical, technical and patient roles which vary by setting
• User Experience
• Usability (HIMSS Usability Maturity Model)
• User Interfaces
• Touch screens
• Hardware integrations - medical device
• Ensuring value derived from transition to paper to digital; efficiency, usability & metrics

12. Nuances in Technical
Implementation
• Security
• HIPAA Cloud
• Interoperability
• HL7 FHIR Data Model
• EHR standardization for clinical data sets; intended to improve patient outcomes
• Certification
• Meaningful Use
• SureScripts ePrescribe
• Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs)

13. Healthcare Industry Onboarding
As a Healthcare Product Manager you must be well-versed across all of these and stay current
in your knowledge of the industry, legislation and information technology standards.

14. Digital Health Apps
Lack of
Scientific
Evidence
Limited
Healthcare
System
Integration
Regulator &
Privacy
Unknowns
Few
Reimbursement
Provisions
165,000+ mHealth Apps. Low
Adoption.
0
1
0
2
0
3
0
4
0
5Lackluster, Not
Compelling

15. Innovator’s Toolkit
"Most companies segment their
markets by customer demographics
or product characteristics and
differentiate their offerings by
adding features and functions.
But the consumer has a different
view of the marketplace. He simply
has a job to be done and is seeking
to 'hire' the best product or service
to do it."
- Clayton Christensen, Professor,
Harvard Business School
Source: Innovator’s Toolkit

16. Jobs To Be Done
“People would be more inclined to
use wearables and track their
health if they knew their physician
was using that information and it
directly impacted their clinical
care.”
- John Brownstein, Chief Innovation
Officer, Boston Children’s Hospital
Source: Innovator’s Toolkit

17. Healthcare JTBD
Too Many
Doctors Appointments
Doctors Visits Doctor Prescribes App
Less Doctors Visits via
Ongoing Monitoring
Engaged Patients
“The most challenging barrier to adoption is that this is an industry where the
payer is not ultimately the end-user of the technology they pay for. As a result,
there are numerous stakeholders (payer, provider, user) that must buy-in before
an idea is commercially viable.”
- Alejandro Foung, Co-founder & CEO, Lantern

18. Healthcare Innovation Teams
“Product management
really is the fusion between
technology, what engineers
do - and the business side.”
- Marissa Mayer, CEO,
Yahoo
Healthcare Adds Clinicians, Researchers AND Administration to the Mix!

19. Dedicate Time To Onboarding
Subject Matter Expert
Interviews
HIPAA Training
Conferences
In-Field Discovery
Focus Groups
Base Industry
Knowledge

20. Champion Lean Principles
Brainstorm
Discovery
Champion
Engagement
Iterations

21. Understand & Appreciate The
Nuances
Commit
Yourself
Leverage
SMEs
Spent Time
In Discovery
Identify subject matter experts
in your organization and in the
industry; partner with them
and accept the learning curve
Step 1
Having a strong commitment to
the industry and passion for the
products you support is very
important
Step 2
Ongoing discovery is a large
part of the work; be patient
with the process and realize the
significant impacts you are
making
Step 3

22. Let’s build something better together
Get In Touch 562.354.1707
shelley@onitsaxis.com
@onitsaxis
Orange County, CA
Philadelphia, PA
THANK YOU