Startup Physicians

Bridging Innovation and Clinical Insight: How Physicians Can Shape Healthcare Startups with Shelli Pavone

• Alison Curfman, M.D. • Season 1 • Episode 18

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In this episode, I sit down with Shelli Pavone, co-founder of Inlightened, a platform built to bridge the gap between healthcare innovators and professionals. Shelli shares her journey through healthcare and startup leadership, and we dive into why startups often miss the mark when they don't meaningfully involve clinicians in the innovation process. We explore how clinician feedback can prevent costly mistakes, why healthcare professionals should be compensated for their input, and how engaging with innovation can reignite a physician’s passion for impacting healthcare. Shelli also highlights how Inlightened simplifies the administrative side of consulting, creating a low-risk, high-value opportunity for physicians to step into the startup space. If you’ve ever wondered how your expertise could shape the future of healthcare—without needing prior consulting experience—this conversation is for you.

Episode Highlights
[00:00] — Introduction to Inlightened and Its Mission
[03:10] — The Disconnect Between Healthcare Innovators and Providers
[05:51] — Building Connections: The Role of Inlightened
[09:01] — The Innovation Lifecycle and Importance of Feedback
[11:53] — Engaging Healthcare Professionals: The Onboarding Process
[15:09] — The Value of Diverse Perspectives in Healthcare Innovation
[18:00] — Opportunities for Physicians in the Innovation Space
[20:52] — Conclusion and Call to Action

Shelli Pavone:

Now you want to see, okay, is this going to fit into the workflow, or is this something that feels usable to my audience? And then when you're going to get ready to go to market, you have to test an entirely different audience, because a lot of times the users are not the purchasers. And so determining you know how these decisions are made to bring your technology into a care setting, or you know who is ultimately responsible for budgetary approval. Are there any other channels it has to go through?

Alison Curfman:

Welcome to StartUp physicians. Please like and follow our show to join our community of physicians who are reimagining healthcare delivery. Hi everyone, and welcome back to startup physicians podcast. I'm your host, Dr Allison Curfman, and I'm excited to be joined today by Shelly Pavone. She is a co founder of a company that I got to know recently called enlightened, and the more I got to know the co founders of this company, the more I realized that this was something that I feel like a lot of doctors should know about, and she has a pretty interesting story about why they started this company, and why she sees such a need for doctors to get involved in healthcare startups. So thank you, Shelly, thanks so much for coming on. Thank you so much for having me Awesome. Well, maybe as we get started, you can just tell us a little bit about your background and how you got involved in this work. Absolutely. So my background is, is in healthcare. I've I worked in healthcare since I got out of college. I started my career working for large pharmaceutical and device companies, and then I transitioned into working for startups about 10 years ago, and in my journey, I saw some similar things along the way that led me to founding enlightened and really that was the the main disconnect between these healthcare companies, whether large or small innovators, and the healthcare professionals, those on the front lines of delivering care. When I worked for a really large pharma and device companies, they would put tons of money and effort behind developing a new therapy or device, and being a part of the commercial team, we were tasked with going out and really talking to the healthcare professionals, and, you know, ultimately, asking them to purchase or utilize these tools. And the reaction that I received a lot of times was

Shelli Pavone:

really just incredulous. Looks like this is not what we need, or this is not what we asked for, or this doesn't fit into my workflow, or the patients aren't going to benefit from this because of x. And it was really a bewildering situation for me, because, you know, I'm young in this industry, assuming that they're going to spend this much money developing something surely they've done enough research to make sure that this they're solving the right problem that's needed. Yeah, and, you know, unfortunately, that just wasn't the case. And and when I went into a startup for the first time, I found a similar issue. It was just derived from the root of a different problem. Because a lot of the startups didn't really have the access to the healthcare professionals, or if they did, I think oftentimes they felt like, Okay, well, if we talk to one person, then we know everything we need to know to like, forge ahead and innovate. And you know, that's just not the case. I worked for a company that developed a module in spine and they had spoken to one spine surgeon, and this spine surgeon is an incredible spine surgeon, but he can't speak for all spine surgeons in a very variable category. And so they developed something a little bit in a vacuum, and it was somewhat obsolete for a large number of the population. And I think that when we see innovations develop without the input of healthcare providers and professionals, we end up getting things that don't solve problems for patients or providers. And so it's kind of all for nothing, yeah. And so I wanted to start enlightened, because I thought there was a better way to connect these two sides of the equation, yeah.

Alison Curfman:

And when, when I first met with your co founder, I feel like we had a lot of, you know, kindred spirits about this idea that, you know, industry needs the voices of clinicians, and I'm focused specifically on the physician population, but there are other clinicians too. Issue that I know you guys serve, but we're kind of in these like parallel tracks, and there's not a lot of opportunity to kind of take a pathway to crossover. There's not a lot of tools that are available that help you know doctors who are really focused on day to day practice, of the frontline work, of seeing patients, who actually have the best perspective of what their patients may need. But there's no really good conduit to industry and to these sorts of companies that are really, really looking for that sort of valuable input.

Shelli Pavone:

Yeah. I mean, you know, it's interesting, because I meet a lot of physicians through my work with enlightened, and a lot of times when we're familiarizing the idea of what we do to them, they're really unsure about you know, how to get in contact with these startups, or how to start to work in innovation. Have an impact innovation. And sometimes it's because they're unaware of the way that they can contribute their ideas. But other times it's just they don't know how to get in in contact with these people. Um, and then, of course, there's the other side of the equation, where sometimes you'll have startups going to speak to clinicians and healthcare professionals, and they're asking them to give their time and input for free. And you know, at the end of the day, I think that everyone's aware of how much work and time it takes to become a physician, and it's a very time consuming, arduous job, and so we, I believe that they should be compensated for their role in the innovation process as well.

Alison Curfman:

Yeah, absolutely. And I want to get into kind of the solution that you built. I know that my approach has really been, you know, this podcast, really trying to help physicians, at least see that there are other other people doing things that they could they could do also. I train physicians also. And I know you say sometimes they don't know how to find the opportunities or even get connected in the industry, and so that's one of the things that I do in a more intensive way, of like, really training physicians to understand like, what is your story? What are your transferable skills? What are the things that get you excited, that you feel like are real problems that you could, you know, help contribute to find the solutions. But there's a lot of companies out there, and there's a lot of physicians out there. And so I'd love for you to describe a little bit about the approach that you took to try and find a way to solve this problem

Shelli Pavone:

Absolutely. So we started building, you know, we have a little bit of like a chicken or the egg situation with enlightened, right? Because there's two sides of what we're trying to do. There's the innovators the industry, and then there are the healthcare professionals. And so we started out by talking to industry, determining you know what they're doing. How are they finding healthcare professionals to connect with, under trying to understand if they really understood how how how critical it is to have those voices within their process. And you know, what we found through that process was that they understand it's important, but they struggle finding those people. If they do find them, they're usually going through like their networks. And you know, we we saw a lot of echo chambers happening right where they weren't getting out and reaching out so large, large enough volume of individuals or people with like, diversity of thought. And so there was that. And then once we knew that the problem was recognized and persistent in the industry community, beyond my personal experience with it, we started talking to the healthcare professionals, and we started building a network of individuals that were interested in kind of dipping their toe, sharing their thoughts, and being a part of the innovation process. And so over the last five, almost six years, that enlightened has been alive. We have brought on 1000s of healthcare professionals into our network, and we really take the time during our onboarding process to get to know them, get to know their background, their areas of expertise, what they're passionate about, so that we can match them with the right opportunities to engage with industry. And you know, one of the things that we hear most from the individuals that participate in research through enlightened was that was so much fun. I really enjoyed that, because unfortunately, I think that the delivery of care has has become inundated with a lot of process and technology, and it's taken a little bit away from the passionate reasons a lot of these individuals went into this field in the first place, and when they get to spend time dealing with innovation, it's like it sparks a piece of their brain that remembers why they are doing this in the first place, and they get really excited to continue doing it. Yeah,

Alison Curfman:

I totally understand that. And I feel like just that, that energy that you experience when you're around co founders there. I mean, there's just no level of startups that is like, just just going to work today, you know, like they just just doesn't exist in that field. Because it's like you're gonna You gotta run fast. You gotta be excited about what you're building. Otherwise, why would you be building it? Right? Yeah. And so I think that when physicians get to experience that sort of energy of looking at a problem in a new way and really, truly feeling how, how good it feels to be able to contribute knowledge that they didn't have before. It's really rewarding. And so I'm not surprised at all that that's the feedback that you've gotten from your clinicians.

Shelli Pavone:

Yeah, it's, I mean, it's, I think it's incredibly rewarding for them. And then, you know, we get the feedback from industry as well that they felt like they were able to change course because of the information that they found out, or they were able to validate a course of action or an idea that they had, you know, and I mean, I, as a startup founder myself. I never want to see somebody get information that invalidates what their thought but sometimes, to me, that's some of the most rewarding pieces, because I know that I've helped them avoid a potential step back in the future, right? You don't want to find out that your idea is not good when you're ready to go to market. You want to find out in the very when you're still building it on paper. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's the it's the Move fast and break things ethos, right? But in healthcare, you have to be responsible. And responsible disruption, I think, is, is heavily aided by making sure that you're consulting with the experts very early on in this these stages, and we've had companies that have worked with us that are still in like, stealth mode, right? They don't have like, a presence, they don't have even a name. Sometimes they're just trying to figure out if their assumptions are correct. And when we've engaged professionals on their behalf, we've found that, you know, they have changed course, or they have molded their idea into something much more realistic and effective because of those voices, which is really gratifying to me, because that's the whole point of us doing this.

Alison Curfman:

Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think you and I have both seen examples of innovation that maybe didn't get the right input at the right time and ended up with a product that didn't ever go to market. And I think that's kind of what you described earlier. And I think for companies, it's amazing to think that they could use your platform to actually consult with with multiple experts of the same specialty, to run it by a lot of people. I know that the core principle of what I have learned when building a company from scratch is the process of really de risking that idea by trying to identify every single variable that will lead to you know, changes in your business case or your clinical model, try and identify all the core variables that are assumptions that you're Making, and then go try and find the answers to whether your assumptions are correct. Because sometimes, when you are making a spreadsheet and you are assuming 70% is the number, but the real number is really 30% you can't know that you're making an assumption, but and you can't even get the exact perfect right number, because unlike healthcare, or unlike medicine, where we are using an evidence base, and we have done all these research studies, and this is, this is the guideline for this. When you're building a company, a lot of these variables, you're just making your very best guess. Yes, and you're doing everything you can to de risk the idea by getting as much input on these different variables as you can. And so I think that this platform to be able to connect with a multitude of experts in the same specialty and maybe even ask them all the same question, but get different reactions. If you get 10 endocrinologists that all say like, this is a slam dunk idea, and you are completely spot on, and this is how it's going to help patients. Not only are they going to get new ideas for new revenue streams and different, you know, aspects of their model that they might need to tweak, but they have really good validation that, yeah, go ahead and put some capital into this, because it's probably going to be good. But if you get, you know, eight people say this is not what my patients need, and only two that say it would be worthwhile, then you have some more, some more research to do.

Shelli Pavone:

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I find that really, at every stage of the innovation life cycle. It's important to kind of go back to an audience to figure out where you are, right, because you might have, de risked your idea and determined, ultimately, the idea that you're moving forward with. But once you've got, you know, if you're if you're innovating in technology, like your MVP, right now you want to see, okay, is this going to fit into the workflow, or is this something that feels usable to my audience? And then when you're going to get ready to go to market, you have to test an entirely different audience, because a lot of times the users are not the purchasers, and so determining, you know how these decisions are made, to bring your technology into a care setting, or, you know who is ultimately responsible for budgetary approval? Are there any other channels it has to go through? I mean, you know, we work with a lot of Payers too, in the Enlightened network, and so a lot of times it's determining, like, reimbursement, you know, formulary situations, and then, you know, ultimately, even messaging that might resonate with your audience. And so I think there are multiple touch points during the innovation life cycle where you should be getting out and talking to different audiences within the healthcare industry to determine if you're on the right track. Because you know, just like when you're de risking your initial idea or clinically validating something, you need to do that with kind of every step, because you have different stakeholders involved as well? Yeah,

Alison Curfman:

absolutely. So now I'd like to ask you a little bit about what I know this audience is probably curious about, which is, from the from the doctor's perspective, to use a platform like yours, is there like criteria that you have to have, like consulted before, or is there a requirement to be part of your platform, to have met a certain number of background requirements?

Shelli Pavone:

So we don't have a requirement that they've had to consult before? We really like the people that are new to this, because I think they tend to have really novel approaches. And you know, if you look into the industry, right, if they've been sampling the same individuals over time, right, we're we're not getting anything new. So we love people that don't have experience in this. I mean, those that have experience are great too. And then from a qualification perspectives, you know, we have a process of onboarding that we ask that the individuals that are in our network complete, because we want to verify that number one, of course, that they are who they say they are. We want to make sure that they don't have, you know, any penalties or anything on their record. And then the rest of the onboarding process is really just about digging in and understanding who they are as a person and a professional, you know. Again, we're interested in knowing what is their area of expertise, you know. And that's specialty and sub specialty, of course, but drilling down even further, right, what type of patients do they treat? Is there anything that they are specifically known for or focused on? And then also, what are they passionate about? Right? Because we can have, you know, somebody that has, and, you know, focus on internal medicine, but they're really focused on, like, value based care or something like that, right? Or they're passionate about that, and so that helps us determine where they might be a good fit. And so, you know, that's really the focus of our onboarding process. It's, it's the verification of their background, and then just diving into their area of expertise. Companies, and then once we get to that onboarding process, we do host them on our platform. We have a proprietary bio, and then that's how companies that work with enlightened can find them and and that's how the people who work internally for enlightened, for our concierge clients, can can connect with them and and put them on projects as well. So it's really, you know, it's the process is simple, but we do try to get as in depth as possible, because it benefits both sides when we have the best information on these individuals.

Alison Curfman:

And do the physicians have to pay anything to be part of your platform? They

Shelli Pavone:

do not. So the physicians, and we work with, you know, physicians, clinicians, nurses, any any healthcare background, but we used to take a percentage of what they were paid for each engagement. We don't anymore. So it's it's free to be on the platform, and then we have a secure stripe integration. So once they complete an engagement, they if they've connected their bank account through stripe, they will get paid in in full in a matter of days, usually.

Alison Curfman:

So it makes it a lot easier than, you know, someone who maybe sets up their own whole back back office for their own consulting. You kind of take, take all that administrative side of things off,

Shelli Pavone:

exactly. And I, you know, I one of the things that we discovered in our early days of research and talking to clinicians who had done this type of engagement before, was they were like, well, I don't even know if I got paid, because they were sending me a check, and I don't know if I got it or, you know, and then when it came like, tax time, you know, there's a lot of like, confusion. You know, in our platform, they can log in, they can refer their, you know, colleagues and friends to our platform, and they can also see all of the engagements they participated in, what they were paid. And it's a really, like, smooth transition. And so there's a lot of, like, the guesswork and the admin taken out of it. And then also, you know, come tax time, right, if you've earned the over the like$600 it is, we send you the 1099, so there's really, there's really no guesswork involved. You just, you know you're paid through enlightened, you can track it all and and it makes it really easy for our clients as well, because they know they can easily connect with the same individual if they want to follow up again, and payments are simple and secure and they're all tracked. Yeah,

Alison Curfman:

yeah. So that sounds great, and it seems like a very positive model for clinicians, because they're the commodity, right? They're the they're the experts, the ones with the knowledge that your clients, the industry and the companies are seeking. So I'm curious to know if there's specific, like, specialties or areas that you feel like you have a lot of demand for, or if, if there's thoughts on, like, kind of where you're seeing a lot of interest.

Shelli Pavone:

Yeah. I mean, you know, I think healthcare is is cyclical in certain ways, right? We have, like, it goes through its trends. You know, throughout the pandemic, it was a lot of, like, people that had experience with remote patient monitoring and telehealth, and, you know, now I think that typically, we see a lot of need for oncology, cardiology, you know, urology is a big one. And again, it depends. And we have, you know, if I were to look into our mix of projects right now, it's probably all over the board, you know, but I would say that those are the specialties that are most in demand in this moment. But it changes so frequently. And you know, we are, we are open to all, you know, individuals with healthcare backgrounds. We're very thoughtful about the healthcare professional experience with enlightened because, as you said, they are the commodity, and we want to make sure that they feel respected, and you know that their time is respected, and that they are getting something out of the work that they do with us.

Alison Curfman:

Yeah, it seems like a really low risk opportunity for physicians. Because I will, I will tell you that I actually, I did join your platform. I wanted to see what it was like, and, you know, it wasn't a ton of work to like. I mean, you should know what your expertise is, and you should be able to answer these questions. But worst case scenario, if they join your platform and don't get, you know. Have opportunities from it. Then you you made a bio somewhere. I mean, you didn't pay money to be on it, but on the best case, you could be connected with opportunities that could be, you know, an exciting and interesting way to get involved. And like you said, you don't have to learn all the administrative back inside of, like, you know, all of the things that you have to do to run a consulting business. Exactly, yes. Very cool. Well, I wanted to make it really clear to people that enlightened starts with an i, right. And so for people who want to find you. What is the best way to connect with you? Yes. So

Shelli Pavone:

our our website is get enlightened and again, enlightened as an eye. So if they go to get enlightened and they're interested in signing up, you can sign up there. On all our socials are also get enlightened, but you know, on the website, there is a tab for for healthcare professionals. They can sign up right through that. We know we have our support team that gets in contact with them, and you know, if during the sign up process, they don't want to fill out all the forms or they have questions, they can opt to have a phone call with one of the people at enlightened, and we'll walk them through getting their bio and everything set up. We try to make it as easy as possible. But you know, all of our socials are at get enlightened, and the website is get enlightened.com and I think that, you know, that's the best way to connect and find us. And, you know, on our website, we've got a lot of information about the types of projects that we've worked on. We have, you know, in the news section, and then we also often do spotlights on some of our experts as well. And so, you know, I think that's always really interesting for prospective experts to look and see some of the other individuals that we've worked with. And yeah, spotlight kind of what they're doing sometimes outside of their clinical works.

Alison Curfman:

It's very Yeah, that's awesome. And we'll make sure to put those links in the show notes as well. I have really enjoyed this discussion. I think that you and I have different backgrounds, but have come to find the same problem, and I think that it's it's really validating to hear someone who has worked so much with industry to say there is such a need for clinician perspectives in these developing companies. I know I tell people that all the time, but it's always good to hear people from industry saying that too, and saying that they see a demand and see a need, because my goal is to really inspire other physicians to get involved in this work, to realize that they have something to contribute. They have a lot to contribute, and I think that I was really excited to get to know more about your business and how that could be a really low barrier to entry way to get involved. So thank you so much for joining me today. I really, really appreciated all your perspective.

Shelli Pavone:

Thank you so much for having me. I completely agree their their input is invaluable, and we we need more to get involved in the innovation process. So thank you for all that you're doing to make that happen. All

Alison Curfman:

right, all right. And thank you everyone for listening. Have a great day. Thank you for listening to startup positions. Don't forget to like, follow and share. You