At StartUp Health, we get the pleasure of talking with many, many founders of healthcare startups. It’s a perk of the job, because each founder, each new idea, inspires us and gives us hope that we’re on the cusp of some major breakthroughs.

Then reality sets in, and we’re reminded just how hard it is to go from an idea – even a brilliant one with validation – to commercialization and broad use. It’s one thing for a founder to find a single clinic to use their platform or device, but a common question is: How do you get your startup adopted at a large hospital, or better yet, a hospital system? Do you just call up the Chief Digital Officer, or Chief Innovation Officer, and they’ll get it sorted?

Not exactly, according to our guest today. For one thing, the role of hospital’s Chief Digital Officer has changed dramatically.

Sara Vaezy is Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Digital Officer for Providence, where she is responsible for system strategy and digital innovation for the integrated delivery network (IDN), which includes 52 hospitals and 1,085 clinics and serves over 5 million unique patients.

So, how can a startup work with a hospital system effectively? What do hospitals look for in a startup and what are some of the red flags for a project that’s going nowhere? And what are the greatest pain points for which hospitals are actively seeking solutions?

To answer these questions, we invited Vaezy onto a Masterclass, which are virtual sessions we hold in front of a live audience of founders from the StartUp Health community. We’ve cut the session down to share the highlights with you, and we’ve included some of the founder questions from the Q&A as well, since they are very practical and relevant.

Let’s dive in!

Innovating in Alzheimer’s disease? Learn how you can join our Alzheimer’s Moonshot.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? Learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Want more content like this? Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Innovators: Health Transformer University fuels your health moonshot

Funders: Become a Health Moonshot Champion