F014 Big data, AI, and the meaning of communication skills in digital health (John Nosta, Nostalab)
What do you get by mixing science, healthcare innovation, love for words, marketing and communication? The answer is: John Nosta.
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John has been holding a strong position as the number one influencer in the digital health space for quite a few years. His career started in a research lab at Harvard Medical School, until he redirected his creative energy into marketing. About six years ago John founded NostaLab — a think tank helping life sciences companies navigate change by addressing their problems through unconventional thinking and leveraging creativity. Before that he worked for MedTech and Pharma companies to help them communicate the right idea to the right audience.
“It’s not just about simplification but using the right words and communication platform for the right audience. It can be visual as well as linguistic. It’s about making an idea or concept more intellectually sticky and resident for a variety of audiences. It’s not always about making it understandable in the context of the lowest common denominator. It’s about communicating the right idea to the right audience.”
Communication of ideas is of significant importance for the success of a product, yet often times, companies struggle with it. As John observes, many innovators are tremendously hampered by the ability of the marketplace to absorb or understand that innovation. “Most companies are obsessed with the notion of patient-centricity. All the CEOs and marketers say everything we do; we do for the patient. So they go through the traditional value ladder — take a feature of their product and ladder it up to a value. The consequence is that the value becomes the same for every company and every product.”
His advice:
Understand what your point of difference is. Articulate single-minded visions. Create sharp, single-minded positioning statements. Don’t create bundles of benefits no one will remember.
While being aware of the low usability and success of mobile apps, John believes they are only a small piece in the digital health landscape. As he says, apps are often built around the notion of novelty, without addressing a clinical need. Despite low percentage of apps being used, he believes we should keep increasing the number of apps on the market in order to find the meaningful ones. This might not happen in established clinical settings, coming from professionals. Solutions could come from innovators such as parents with a sick child. “Not every innovator is like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. Especially in healthcare, an idea can come from most fragile souls.”
He firmly believes the ability to analyse big data will fuel the new wave of innovation. Big data will allow us to find meaning through combining various, seemingly unrelated data points. Data gathering will not be a matter of choice for much longer. However, the ownership of data will shift back to its original owner. The new intermediaries entering the market will allow patients to monetize their data through various models, he says.
“The big data will become the third fundamental window into humanity. The first one was the telescope. Copernicus taught us the Earth is not the center of the universe. Maybe we will learn that the doctor is not the center of the health universe. Copernicus also taught us of the blasphemy — great ideas meet with tremendous resistance.”
Among other things, John is a member of the Google Health Advisory Board and you can regularly read his observations on digital health in Forbes.
Some questions addressed:
Are we losing control over the data?
What’s the potential of voice recognition software?
Can we avoid data gathering today?
What are companies doing wrong when communicating their vision?
Can innovation be born in large clinical institutions or do they mostly work as echo chambers?
Key takeaways:
“Data gathering is the reality we live in.”
“I don’t think we’re losing control over data as individuals; we’re going through a time where control is being reevaluated. The standards for privacy are changing.”
“We are at an inflection point where the domain of data will shift back to the consumer. Once that happens we will see a tremendous change.”
“Data ownership is emerging as a fundamental human right.”
“The big data will become the third fundamental window into humanity. The first one was the telescope. Copernicus taught us the Earth is not the center of the universe. Maybe we will learn that the doctor is not the center of the health universe. Copernicus also taught us of the blasphemy — great ideas meet with tremendous resistance.”
“Not every innovator is like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs. Especially in healthcare, an idea can come from most fragile souls.”
“Today, if something works, it’s already obsolete. That’s why you need to fail fast an move forward. We need to look at innovation through exponential growth.”
“Today, many innovators are tremendously hampered by the ability of the marketplace to absorb or understand that innovation.”
“Create sharp, single-minded positioning statements. Don’t create bundles of benefits no one will remember.”