The Business Model Framework for Digital Health Start-ups in Europe, based on the Innovation Landscape
Main Article Content
Keywords
digital health, entrepreneurship, business model innovation, open innovation, accelerators, incubators, success factors
Abstract
In today’s fast-paced world, it is difficult to acquire the same quality level of healthcare efficiently. To achieve a similar quality of service in a shorter time, digital health solutions ranging from applications to online registration play a pivotal role in the lives of healthcare practitioners and more specifically patients.
The new digital health paradigms have shifted to be more patient-centric, preventive, predictive, and personalized to more accurately and precisely cater to the patient’s needs. The dawn of novel innovative technologies revolutionizing the digital health sector across the globe has generated multiple value creations and research opportunities. The following research focuses on studying innovation diffusion in the digital health sector and its effect on the success of start-ups via analysis of the business models [1]. It is essential to understand the significant proportionality of innovation to the success of digital health startups in delivering quality care to users/patients without compromising quality or failing to create business value in the current competitive market.
References
[2] Startup Genome. Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2018—Succeeding in the New Era of Technology. 2018. https://cdn.startupgenome.com/sites/5c98cab2fb6681000470c58c/content_entry5c98d00fa9239e000d566f7b/5c98d041a9239e000d5670ba/files/Global_Startup_Ecosystem_Report_2018_-_v1.7.pdf?1626427234. Accessed July 22, 2025.
[3] Burström T, Parida V, Lahti T, Wincent J. AI-enabled business-model innovation and transformation in industrial ecosystems: A framework, model and outline for further research. Journal of Business Research. 2021;127:85–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.016.
[4] Huckvale K, Wang CJ, Majeed A, Car J. Digital health at fifteen: more human (more needed). BMC Medicine. 2019;17(1):62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-019-1302-0.
[5] Wohlin, C. Guidelines for snowballing in systematic literature studies and a replication in software engineering. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE '14) (Article No. 38, 1–10). ACM. 2014. https://doi.org/10.1145/2601248.2601268.
[6] Accelerator + Small Businesses | Starburst. September 2, 2022. Starburst. https://starburst.aero/main-accelerator/. Accessed July 22, 2025.
[7] Parsons VL. Stratified sampling. Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online. 2017;1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118445112.stat05999.pub2.
[8] Levy DJ. Realism; an Essay in Interpretation and Social Theory. Manchester: Carcanet Press. 1981.
[9] Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology (Print). 2006;3(2):77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
[10] King N. Using templates in the thematic analysis of text. In: Cassell C, Symon G. Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research. SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks (pp. 256–270). 2004. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446280119.n21.
[11] Nowell L, Norris JM, White D, Moules NJ. Thematic analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 2017;16(1):160940691773384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847.
[12] Koch T. Establishing rigour in qualitative research: the decision trail. Journal of Advanced Nursing (Print). 1994;19(5):976–986. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.1994.tb01177.x.
[13] Halpern ES. Auditing Naturalistic inquiries: Some preliminary applications. Part 1: Development of the process. Part 2: Case study application. 1983. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED234084.
[14] Lux T, Kempf Y. Success Factors for Market Entry of Mobile Health Startups. 2021 IEEE/ACS 18th International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA). 2021. https://doi.org/10.1109/aiccsa53542.2021.9686849.
[15] Chakraborty I, Ilavarasan PV, Edirippulige S. Health-tech startups in healthcare service delivery: A scoping review. Social Science & Medicine. 2021;278:113949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113949.
[16] Chakraborty I, Ilavarasan PV, Edirippulige S. Critical success factors of startups in the e-health domain. Health Policy and Technology. 2023;12(3):100773. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2023.100773.
[17] Saarela M, Simunaniemi A-M, Muhos M, Ojala A. Chapter 13 International aspects of growth management in eHealth service start-ups. In: Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks. 2021. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788976817.00021.
[18] Velayati F, Ayatollahi H, Hemmat M, Dehghan R. Key components and critical factors for developing a telehealth business framework: a qualitative study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. 2021;21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01707-3.
[19] Velayati F, Ayatollahi H, Hemmat M, Dehghan R. The 4P telehealth business framework for Iran. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. 2022;22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-022-02011-4.
[20] Muhos M, Saarela M, Foit D, Rasochova L. Management priorities of digital health service start-ups in California. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. 2018;15(1):43–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-018-0546-z.
[21] Osterwalder A, Pigneur Y. Business model generation. John Wiley & Sons. 2010.
[22] Ostili L. How to craft a business model canvas for your enterprise. February 10, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-craft-business-model-canvas-your-enterprise-lorenzo-ostili-4459f/. Accessed July 22, 2025.
[23] Strategyzer (Préverenges, Switzerland). The Business Model Canvas – Download the official template. (n. d.). https://www.strategyzer.com/library/the-business-model-canvas.
[24] Teece DJ. Business models, business strategy and innovation. Long Range Planning (Print). 2010;43(2–3):172–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07.003.
