#54 Stuart Ginn, WakeMed: A physician's perspective on medical drone delivery

#54 Stuart Ginn, WakeMed: A physician's perspective on medical drone delivery

Welcome back to The Vertical Space for a deep dive into the medical delivery use case, or I should say another deep dive into this interesting topic. We’ve had guests in the past – notably Justin Steinke from Spright – where we talked about the medical delivery use case from an operator and drone expert perspective. This time, we get to hear from Stuart Ginn who besides having a professional aviation background is also a physician and therefore looks at the drone opportunity through the lens of a healthcare professional – somebody engaged in delivering healthcare and intimately familiar with the complexities associated with it. 

 We’ve covered a lot of ground in this conversation, starting with a description of the existing internal logistics systems within a large healthcare system, and more importantly its current problems that drones might successfully address. And we do this in the context of macro factors that healthcare faces in providing access to clinical services to rural areas. We compare the B2B medical drone delivery business model to that of the B2C consumer delivery and have a lively discussion around which is more likely to become a killer app first. 

 The opinion that the B2B medical drone delivery use case is a promising market opportunity is commonly shared in the industry. However, what is not adequately discussed is exactly how this value will be realized, what matters to hospitals, and what the ultimate product needs to look like to ensure wide adoption. Here’s where Stuart’s insights really stand out. For instance, instead of thinking about drones as part of a transportation system, Stuart believes they should be considered as an extension of the infrastructure, not unlike pneumatic tubes in hospitals today. As usual, we go deep, ask tough questions, and uncover interesting insights not widely shared.

7:10 Internal logistics and supply chains are a pain point for large healthcare systems
14:00 A change in mindset is needed
18:34 B2C consumer deliveries vs B2B medical deliveries
24:44 Logistics data is poorly understood and highly variable
27:08 Blood sample transportation - a case study
29:38 The most important driver for adopting drones in medical delivery
34:01 Is medical delivery a near term killer app?
44:07 Economics of medical delivery and WakeMed use case
51:08 Ideal use case for drones in the U.S. healthcare system
53:28 Succeeding as a drone operator serving the healthcare community
55:30 Common mistakes entrepreneurs make when pitching hospitals
57:31 Drones as pneumatic tubes

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