By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    An Expert’s Guide To Building and Improving Endurance
    June 30, 2022
    medical assistants
    What Do Medical Assistants Do On a Day to Day Basis?
    April 5, 2022
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    Latest News
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    How Powerful Patients Save the System Money
    November 11, 2015
    How Financial Barriers are Slowing Down Telehealth Adoption
    September 26, 2017
    No Resource Constraints in Dialysis: a Blessing and a Curse
    May 4, 2011
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Welcome to the age of the patientpreneur
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > Welcome to the age of the patientpreneur
Medical InnovationsSocial MediaTechnology

Welcome to the age of the patientpreneur

Paul Tunnah
Paul Tunnah
Share
4 Min Read
patientpreneur
SHARE

The modern pharmaceutical industry, now accounting for annual sales of over one trillion dollars, started from humble roots in the late 19th and early 20th century. Companies that are now global leaders and household names in this sector, like Johnson and Johnson or Pfizer, can trace their roots back to pharmacists looking to scale their businesses and chemical manufacturers discovering medicines largely through serendipity. Today, with the cost of drug development being quoted as anywhere up to $4 billion, it is an industry that is not for the inexperienced or those without deep pockets. Starting a new drug company requires significant investment and is highly risky, keeping the doors firmly shut to most would-be medicinal entrepreneurs. Now, technology has changed everything. The same digital revolution that has allowed companies like Facebook and Uber to achieve enormous global scale in such short timescales is now driving a revolution in healthcare, allowing innovators to connect with vast numbers of customers extremely quickly and / or develop new products and services in the kind of rapid timescales that represent the blink of an eye for a traditional drug developer. But healthcare has a secret weapon that I think could accelerate technological innovation in this sector much more quickly than in any other – patients. Entrepreneurs are often driven by a passion for solving a problem that is personal to them, to a level that can be an obsession. Think of Steve Jobs’ desire to seamlessly combine technology and design for better user experience, or Elon Musk’s passion for making the electric car a mainstream reality. But what stronger obsession can there be than that of a patient seeking to improve their quality, or length, of life? These are the patients, or indeed their family or carers, who have looked for traditional medicine for help and found it lacking. They have looked in every corner of the world for new innovations coming through that might offer some hope – and found nothing. They have been left dissatisfied by what they see and decided the only way forward is to help themselves. Welcome to the age of the patientpreneur. They are making a difference by building communities, advising other commercial companies, crowdsourcing new research and, perhaps most impressively, building new technologies that can change not only their lives but all those with similar conditions. These patientpreneurs are launching companies, securing investment and achieving global scale by combining typical entrepreneurial skills with their own, very personal perspective on living with a condition, providing a unique 24/7 viewpoint that no market research can match. It would be wrong of me to single out any specific individual, or company, but many of these patientpreneurs are people I would consider friends and the individuals who inspire me every day. If you want a glimpse of some of the types of people I am talking about then you will find many of them in abundance at the upcoming Frontiers Health event in Berlin, where I will be discussing exactly this convergence of medicine, data, and technology. We need the pharmaceutical industry to continue to grow and develop ever better drug interventions, but for me, the emerging era of the patientpreneurs represents a renaissance in medicine that will see an industry of technological medicine grow to rival its traditional cousin in size – and complement it in doing so. The next Mark Zuckerberg may do more than keep you connected to your friends, they might just save your life.

TAGGED:patientpreneur
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025

You Might also Like

Through the Murky Slog: Part II—A New Light for Cancer Therapies?

November 10, 2011
DiagnosticsTechnology

10 Essential Things Every Bio Lab Needs To Have

February 15, 2022

5 Tips for Using an EMR to Increase Profitability

November 14, 2012
TechnologyWellness

6 Surprising Things Online Therapy Can Help With

April 10, 2020
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?