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by zekenie 4664 days ago
I've done some work in clinical research and I can tell you that you might need a legal cofounder more than a technical one! I had ways to automate dozens of employees jobs away just by integrating data systems, but in the eyes of the hospital it was too risky. They didn't want to violate HIPPA. I wrote a little thing about it for The Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/35249/...

I'd love to talk to you more about this because these are problems I'd love to see solved. I think its a real up hill battle though.
3 comments
thetylerhayes 4664 days ago
I would generally recommend against getting a legal cofounder, even in the medical world. They're not contributing nearly as much as the other cofounders in the beginning, especially when you're building a tech-focused startup.

Make friends with a lawyer. Read up on everything legal you can. Pay your lawyer friend when you need lawyer advice and lawyer action. But don't give them not only full-time, but founder, level status unless they are truly a full-time founder.

Plenty of others share their early-stage lawyer advice freely so startups don't need to get in this situation. Check out:

* http://startuplawyer.

* http://rockhealth.com/resources/startup-elements/hipaa-compl...

* http://rockhealth.com/resources/startup-handbook/

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japhyr 4664 days ago
It seems liability would be another reason to have a firm legal foundation. You wouldn't want to miss an edge case that results in a patient's death. If an investigation showed that your translation software made a mistake that led a doctor to make a bad decision, you'd be in a pretty ugly spot.

This is part legal, and part QA, I believe.

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akrasia 4664 days ago
Yea, this is why I didn't want to start a company in healthcare. It's ugly.

I think I can avoid the whole thing by having my software just be a tool, not a final read, and doctors will still have to double check the numbers against the PDF hardcopy. It will just take 1 minute or less to glance at 10 values or so and make sure they match up compared to typing it in themselves

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datburg 4664 days ago
Help me find a research position! I am a fresh MD graduate. Thanks!
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