I am both a doctor as well as an Angel investor, and get to see the struggles which Healthcare entrepreneurs have to go through when trying to sell to doctors.
This is an amazingly uphill task, for many reasons. Many doctors are quite close-minded about accepting new innovations. They think they know everything about anything related to medicine – even if their knowledge is outdated.
Most doctors don’t respect the startup salesperson, just because he is not a doctor. Doctors are very comfortable in their clinical rut. They believe – this is the way we have been doing things for many years, and it’s working well for us, so why do we need to change?
Yes, they are also naturally suspicious, because the salesperson is trying to sell them something, and they have burned their fingers in the past, trying out new gadgets and gizmos, which fail to perform as promised.
Also, doctors are so used to getting things free, thanks to Pharma Companies Freebies, that they refuse to buy anything with their own money, no matter how much value this could add to the clinical care which they provide to their patients.
It is this close-mindedness which impedes the progress of health-care startups in India. Sadly, both doctors and patients suffer, as doctors refuse to take advantages of the technology advances which are available in other parts of the world. The open-minded doctors, who are willing to explore recent advances, are then able to get an edge over their competitors.