The Legal Challenges Facing Health Technology Start-Ups

Health technology, or health tech for short, is a fast-growing industry in the global economy, with a particularly strong performance in the UK. Health tech describes a range of products and services that marry healthcare with bleeding-edge technology, providing effective and lucrative solutions that serve to advance the quality of healthcare in hospitals and other facilities.

Growth in health tech is a good thing for the development of medicine and care but also faces unique risks and challenges. What exactly are those risks, and how do they present when it comes to health tech? Here we will examine some of the key ways in which health tech revolutionises care, and two of the key issues facing health tech as a result.

Advancement in Health Technology

Health tech has seen significant recent growth as a direct result of serious growth in other areas of technology. Artificial intelligence is the leading factor in this trend, with large sums of investor money pouring into the research and development of effective AI-led and AI-based solutions across industries.

AI is not just the development of ‘thinking’ computers to replace direct healthcare, though. It represents a seismic shift in the way healthcare professionals structure their efforts and signals a key overhaul in several areas – from the handling of patient data and administration to the digital diagnosis of low-risk patients.

These solutions come at a time when the UK’s health service faces an existential crisis. Simple tech-led solutions such as the introduction of virtual GP appointments serve to lighten the load on regional healthcare staff and reduce waiting times for in-person appointments. But as newer, more radical technologies emerge, what are the legal risks inherent to their development and launch?

AI and Liability

There is a fresh legal risk facing health tech start-ups, born from the development of new generative technologies in the AI sphere. This legal risk relates to the ‘autonomy’ of AI-assisted or AI-based services, and where the legal responsibility lies in the event of a medical or administrative error.

This is a relatively new legal territory and can pose existential risks to unprepared businesses. Legal counsel is a crucial part of navigating AI offerings, especially where growing businesses are concerned; products may be better served provided with caveats and strict legal documentation concerning their use and wider liability.

Cybersecurity

One evergreen risk faced by back-end health tech solutions is that of cybersecurity. Some leading products and services involve the handling and storage of sensitive private and personal patient information. If a product is not robust enough to repel security breaches, this information could find its way into the wrong hands – potentially leaving the start-ups responsible liable.

Cybersecurity is not a new concern, though; it is, instead, the methods of ensuring cybersecurity that has shifted over time. A comprehensive approach to compliance and security will render a start-up relatively airtight, but buyer-side training should also be a crucial element of your business plan.

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