Moritz Göldner analyzes the unexplored phenomenon of patients and caregivers as innovators with respect to their own unmet medical needs in two complemen-tary studies. In study i he uses a mixed-method approach to analyze quantitative data from two datasets on more than 1,1oo medical smartphone apps each and qualitative data from i6 interviews with developers of medical apps. He finds substantial evidence that patients and caregivers develop medical apps and shows that those apps receive significantly better ratings than company-developed apps. In study 2 he further explores the commercialization activities of patients and caregivers by analyzing 14 case studies of patients and caregivers who successfully brought their tangible medical device on the market. He finds that those inno¬vators did not maximize their profits, but rather sought to market their devices at reasonable prices to offer access to mang other patients. The author discusses these insights and draws conclusions for scholars and managers that are valid beyond this extreme case of user innovation
About the author
Moritz Goldner is an innovation consultant for user-centered innovation in (digital) healthcare. Prior to this position, he was a project manager and research associate at the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at Ham-burg University of Technology. His research interests cover user innovation in healthcare, social innovation, the emergence of new medical technologies, as well as entrepreneurship