Established companies such as Dell Computer (NASDAQ: DELL) and Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) say they are eager to invest in health IT startups—they just need to figure out how the U.S. healthcare system is going to evolve over the next five years; what applications are most likely to get reimbursed; what technologies make the most sense for doctors, for patients, and for insurers; and how they can mesh a startup’s culture with highly regulated, slow-to-change industries.
That was the confusing message from a conference for entrepreneurs and investors in New York on Tuesday, sponsored by the Life Sciences Angel Network, titled Healthcare Information Technology: Change, Outlook & Opportunity. One of the speakers, Steve Hochberg, has started or invested in some 12 early-stage medical technology companies, and last year was named chairman of Continuum Health Partners, New York City’s largest hospital network. Yet he told the meeting that when it comes to health IT, “the healthcare delivery system is so complicated that I’ve chosen to invest elsewhere.”