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How to Build HealthTech Products That Scale

  • Writer: Mary McKee
    Mary McKee
  • May 12
  • 3 min read

Also called, How to Actually Build HealthTech Products Without Screwing It Up


Every HealthTech founder thinks they have a unique problem. Here's the truth: you probably don’t.


You’re not the first person trying to get a virtual care app into the hands of patients. Or to make provider workflows more efficient. Or to sprinkle AI over clinical notes like it’s parmesan cheese.


But the difference between companies that scale and those that stall usually isn’t the idea. It’s how they execute.

And unfortunately, a lot of execution plans go something like this:

Step 1: Build MVP (a prototype held together with duct tape) Step 2: Sell it to a health system, payer, or your cousin who runs a clinic Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit (and maybe compliance...eventually)

This is the stuff that gets teams stuck. Regulatory delays. Misaligned roadmaps. Clinical teams saying “this doesn’t fit into our workflow.” Compliance teams saying “absolutely not.” Sales teams making promises the product can’t deliver.

Sound familiar?


Let’s talk about how to actually build a HealthTech product that gets to market and doesn’t collapse under its own weight.



Toy figure in a lab coat angrily gestures at a computer with a green screen in a hospital setting. Two figures in the background observe.

Step 1: Understand the Terrain (aka Discovery)

Before you build anything, you need to understand the battlefield. And in HealthTech, it’s a minefield.


Checklist:

  • Who are your actual stakeholders? (Hint: it’s not just “doctors.”)

  • What regulatory landmines are lurking? (ONC, CMS, HIPAA, FDA...pick your fighter)

  • Who’s your buyer vs. your user vs. your legal blocker?

  • What does the competitive and reimbursement landscape look like?


📦 Deliverable: A Discovery Report + Risk & Opportunity Map you can actually reference, not just a Notion doc no one reads.


Toy figures in an office setting, working on laptops and discussing at a table. Whiteboards and sticky notes in background; bright, colorful decor.

Step 2: Align the Humans (aka Strategic Planning)

You’re not building this alone. And you definitely can’t outsource alignment to Slack. Build HealthTech Products that align.


Checklist:

  • Does Product know what Sales is selling?

  • Does Engineering know what Compliance is freaking out about?

  • Has anyone validated that this solves a real problem for someone who can pay for it?

  • Are we building features that help scale or features we’ll need to rewrite later?


📦 Deliverable: A Strategic Product Charter and a 3–6 month plan that isn’t based on vibes.



Toy figures, dressed as medical staff, hold devices with screens. Drones fly above a grassy city park, conveying a playful, futuristic scene.


Step 3: Build HealthTech Products for Launch (Not Just Demos)

It’s tempting to optimize for the next investor demo. But investor excitement doesn’t get you through a risk committee.


Checklist:

  • Is your MVP actually viable and compliant?

  • Does this product integrate into real-world workflows (not just a Figma fantasy)?

  • Are you building AI features without any plan for explainability, audit logs, or bias mitigation?

  • Are your integrations built like Lego bricks...or like Jenga towers?


📦 Deliverable: A PRD with a Compliance Addendum so Legal doesn’t flip when they see it.


Toy figures of medical professionals and businesspeople, including a doctor and nurse, stand smiling against a soft gradient background.

Step 4: Prepare to Launch Without Imploding (aka GTM Activation)

You made it to launch. Congrats. Now everyone needs to row in the same direction.


Checklist:

  • Do GTM, Product, and Customer Success agree on the story we’re telling?

  • Do we have support systems in place (compliance, clinical, technical)?

  • Have we tested onboarding flows with actual users?

  • Do we have any early proof points or are we just hoping someone will like it?


📦 Deliverable: A Go-to-Market Playbook that doesn't require deciphering.


Toy girl with orange braids, wearing yellow-striped shirt, holding a blue block, looks confused. Pink background with question mark.

Step 5: Don’t Let Post-Launch Become the Wild West

You shipped. Great. Now your users are using it in ways you didn’t expect and your compliance obligations are evolving. Cool cool cool.


Checklist:

  • Are you collecting real feedback from users, not just NPS surveys your investors told you to send?

  • Do you have a plan to monitor ongoing compliance and privacy obligations?

  • Is your roadmap tied to real-world usage, or the whims of whoever yelled the loudest last week?


📦 Deliverable: A Quarterly Growth Plan that isn’t just “add more AI.”


Toy figures in lab coats wield toy swords and technology in a bright grassy scene. A meteor streaks across the starry night sky.

Some Golden Rules (a.k.a. Stuff You’ll Wish You Took Seriously Earlier)

  • If you break trust, you lose the deal. Maybe the company.

  • Regulatory strategy is product strategy.

  • Alignment is a moat. Internal dysfunction kills more deals than pricing ever will.

  • If your product adds steps to someone’s workflow, you better be 10x better.


Why We Built This Framework


We work with HealthTech teams who are scaling fast, usually with VC pressure breathing down their necks. The margin for error is small. The downside of getting it wrong? Months of delay, millions in lost deals, and reputations that are hard to fix.


This framework is how we help them move fast without breaking trust.


If you’re staring down a launch, navigating compliance chaos, or stuck in alignment hell — let’s talk.

We’ve seen it all. And we can help you build the thing right the first time.

 
 
 

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