By Lynn Yap | Board Advisor, Life Sciences Week 2025
In health tech, the story often unfolds like this:
A pilot programme delivers dazzling results — reduced waiting times, improved outcomes, glowing patient feedback. It wins an innovation award, earns a flurry of headlines, and attracts investor interest.
Then, a few months later, momentum slows.
Not because the technology doesn’t work — but because it doesn’t fit.
It won’t integrate with the hospital’s IT system. Procurement timelines are misaligned. Staff training costs weren’t accounted for. And the internal champions who pushed for it? They’ve moved on to other priorities.
This isn’t unusual — one study found that fewer than 20% of digital health solutions scale successfully beyond a pilot stage. A breakthrough alone isn’t enough if the system can’t carry it forward.
Think of it like designing the perfect new plug — but forgetting to check if it works in the sockets people already have.
The risk of the “perfect pilot”
Pilots are often run under ideal conditions: dedicated project teams, a defined timeframe, and ring-fenced funding. Scaling is different. It happens in the real world — one full of legacy systems, competing priorities, shifting budgets, and deeply ingrained habits.
Without system fit, even the most promising innovation can falter when it leaves the pilot stage.
Defining system fit
System fit is about much more than meeting user needs. It asks bigger questions:
- Can this product operate seamlessly alongside existing workflows?
- Does it meet procurement and compliance requirements before a tender is even issued?
- Will it still be viable in year three, when funding cycles, leadership priorities, or IT infrastructure change?
If the answer to any of these is “not yet,” scaling becomes fragile.
Two cautionary examples
Babylon Health’s GP at Hand service in the UK is a high-profile case. The technology worked as intended, patients embraced the convenience, and adoption was rapid in the early stages. Yet integration challenges with NHS systems — and concerns about the implications for local funding models — led to delays and national debate.
The lesson is clear: even strong demand can be slowed if a solution doesn’t align with the structures and processes already in place.
Designing for complexity from the start
System fit doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of deliberate choices made early in the development journey. Based on lessons from scaling technology and digital platforms, three principles stand out:
- Map the entire ecosystem
Go beyond the patient journey to understand the data flows, budget approvals, and decision-making steps that will influence adoption. Complexity often lies in these intersections.
- Co-create with the gatekeepers of adoption
Clinicians may champion your solution, but procurement leads, IT teams, and operations managers are equally critical. Their early involvement can remove barriers before they arise.
- Design for constraints as well as capabilities
If a product can work in resource-constrained settings, it is more likely to succeed across diverse environments. Constraints drive adaptability and resilience.
Why this matters for Life Sciences Week
As Life Sciences Week brings together innovators, investors, researchers, and health system leaders, the spotlight will naturally fall on breakthrough ideas. But the solutions most likely to succeed beyond the conference are those that have already made friends with the systems they hope to serve.
Whether the challenge is NHS integration, securing reimbursement in European markets, or meeting the needs of global health systems, system fit is the foundation that transforms innovation into impact.
The competitive advantage of system fit
When complexity is considered from the start:
- Adoption accelerates because friction points are addressed early.
- Scaling is smoother as variability in infrastructure and workflows is built into the plan.
- Impact is deeper because the solution becomes part of the everyday delivery of care, not an optional add-on.
System fit is not a limitation. It is the growth engine that turns promising pilots into sustainable, scalable solutions.
Life Sciences Week is a platform for ideas that can change healthcare. By putting system fit at the heart of design, we can increase the odds that those ideas move from showcase to sustained success.
***
About the Author
Lynn Yap is a Board Advisor to Life Sciences Week 2025 and the author of The Altruistic Capitalist. She advises startups, corporates, and founders on commercial strategy, ethical innovation, and long-term value creation.
Connect on LinkedIn and Email| Explore more at AltruisticCapitalist.com
