Can Tools Like ChatGPT Spur More Innovation in Academia and Healthcare?

The challenge of limited time is a significant barrier many healthcare providers and researchers face when considering launching a startup. Balancing the demands of running a lab or seeing patients with the entrepreneurial journey is no easy task.

Is ChatGPT, or similar tech, a potential solution to this? In this post, I’ll explore my thoughts on how ChatGPT could be used to intellectually ‘bootstrap’ founding teams.

Steve Blank, Author and Marketing Professor at Stanford and known for popularizing the I-Corps program, was interviewed about leveraging ChatGPT for customer discovery. His response was:

Q: How does AI change the way entrepreneurs should think about approaching customer discovery?
As of last week, I now tell all my students that besides Googling, they need to be using ChatGPT to help them build business models and do discovery. They're already using it to tell them who all the competitors are, and to help them generate alternate business models.

Time: The Most Precious Resource

Time constraints for academic clinicians and researchers do significantly affect the velocity of startup launch and growth. Like many of us, I’ve been playing with ChatGPT 3.5 and 4.0 since it launched. While it’s far from perfect (it tells lies!), it’s clear to me it is exceptionally good at increasing efficiency for a given task or goal.

Example: Evaluating Alternative Business Models

ChatGPT can be prompted to provide an analysis of alternative business models for a startup idea. For example, if you are exploring a healthcare technology startup, you could prompt ChatGPT with a question like:

“Generate a comparison of the subscription-based, direct-to-consumer model, and reimbursement-based business model for an at-home remote patient monitoring product."

And the response using ChatGPT 4:

In this comparison, we will analyze the subscription-based, direct-to-consumer, and reimbursement-based business models for an at-home remote patient monitoring product, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages in terms of revenue generation, customer acquisition, and user experience.

Subscription-based Model

In a subscription-based model, customers pay a recurring fee to access the remote patient monitoring product and its features. This can be structured as a monthly or annual payment plan.

Advantages:

• Predictable revenue stream: Subscription-based models generate recurring revenue, providing stability and predictability for the business.
• Customer retention: Subscribers are likely to engage with the product regularly, leading to stronger customer relationships and higher retention rates.
• Easier budgeting for customers: Subscription plans offer customers a simple and predictable cost structure, making it easier for them to budget for healthcare expenses.

Disadvantages:

Higher barriers to entry: The ongoing financial commitment may deter potential customers who are unsure about the long-term value of the product. Limited flexibility: Subscription plans may not cater to customers who require the product on a more irregular basis.

Reimbursement-based Model

In a reimbursement-based model, the cost of the remote patient monitoring product is covered by insurance providers or government healthcare programs, with patients receiving the product through their healthcare providers.

Advantages:

• Lower barriers to entry: With the cost covered by insurance or government programs, more patients can access the product without financial constraints.
• Enhanced credibility: Inclusion in insurance or government reimbursement programs can enhance the credibility of the product and encourage adoption.
• Integration with healthcare ecosystem: This model allows for better integration with the existing healthcare ecosystem, including care providers and electronic health record systems.

Disadvantages:

• Complexity of reimbursement process: Navigating insurance reimbursement processes can be complex and time-consuming for businesses.
• Revenue uncertainty: The reimbursement model relies on the willingness of insurance companies or government programs to cover the product’s cost, which may not be guaranteed.
• Regulatory hurdles: This model may require additional regulatory approvals, clinical trials, or compliance measures, which can be costly and time-consuming.

This seems pretty powerful. When sitting down with a founding team and building a business mdoel canvas, this approach enables more choices and considerations. It also lets you invest more time in other areas that may be a bigger priority (i.e., interviews, grant writing).

Exampe: Funding Opportunities

Here is an abbreviated response when asked to provide a list of funding opportunities for Medtech startups in North Carolina, and RTP specifically:

Pretty good.

Other Prompts:

Here are some other examples of prompts I’ve tried (again, not perfect but pretty good):

• Product: A remote-patient monitoring station that ensures stroke patients, following discharge, recover at home safely and reduces avoidable hospital readmission. Identify the Top 10 features that this product would need to succeed.
• Drafting or outlining a One-Pager for early-stage marketing.
• Draft a lean milestone plan table, in markdown format, including milestones, due dates, responsible party and additional details.
• Perform a literature review of supporting data for the use of remote patient monitoring at-home post-discharge for stroke patients, including references.

[Note: Beware the last one, chatGPT will absolutely make up references that don’t exist – this isn’t the best use case]

Tools and ‘Prompt Engineering’

• AgentGPT: AgentGPT allows you to configure and deploy Autonomous AI agents. Name your own custom AI and have it embark on any goal imaginable. It will attempt to reach the goal by thinking of tasks to do, executing them, and learning from the results. Note this requires an OpenAI API key which isn’t free.

• Guide for Building a Startup with ChatGPT Prompts: This is more geared towards more Tech-oriented or SaaS startups, but the information and example prompts are powerful. Anything from coding a web app, to collecting data or marketing.

Conclusion

ChatGPT offers a powerful tool for providers and researchers who have limited time at the outset of launching a startup company. By automating various tasks, including evaluating alternative business models, drafting a one-pager, and identifying supporting data, ChatGPT can help overcome time constraints and do more with less.

However, buyer beware. In my experience, you need an adult in the room to scrutinize the output.