Direct to consumer health. What's your thoughts?

It will like any other industry. I would say more personalized and D2C health is already gaining traction. If you see there are numbers of startups offering different value propositions. I can see vitamin space is already getting flooded with numbers of different startup offering personalized plans.

People will try to self heal and medicate for good or bad. Trend is strong in medical, health care or wellness markets.

Plenty of opportunities if costs are clear, the payment mechanism is seamless and the user experience is benign.

Individuals have grown accustomed to using FSA and HSA accounts for healthcare services. The more a direct to consumer approach can leverage these payment pathways, the more economical it will appear to patients.

My experience of building a service for direct to consumer is that the high degree of regulation can really impede progress. If you (or any of your key people) has a healthcare delivery / clinical background then this will smooth you passage especially when having discussions with auditors / regulators.

Biggest challenges to come include the increasing focus on data privacy / information security of sensitive / PII data and, as always, cutting a path through to the consumer that says clear of Amazon et al. all of whom are working to capture market.

I'm in the process of developing a platform that facilitates therapists to consumer directly - you can check it out at www.talked.com.au