The AdviNOW Medical Playbook: Converting Healthcare Stakeholders from Blockers to Champions

The most counterintuitive discovery in healthcare isn’t about medicine – it’s about incentives.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, AdviNOW Medical founder James Bates revealed the surprising truth he uncovered while building his healthcare AI company: “Nobody actually wants to reduce the cost of healthcare.”

Understanding the Incentive Maze

This wasn’t just cynicism – it was a structural reality. Insurance companies, for instance, are legally required to maintain profits under 20%. As James explains, “Rather than making an efficient insurance company, they bloat it as much as possible so that they can grow on the revenue side. So this is why our health insurance premiums have skyrocketed since 2016, because there’s a built incentive to increase revenue over efficiency.”

Hospital systems face similar perverse incentives. James shared a telling example about cancer treatments: “You can go to a hospital and say immunotherapy has a higher probability of curing this patient… But the reality is there’s a bing counter in the back office that says we make $100,000 with radiation and chemo and we’re only going to make $20,000 off of immunotherapy because the patient gets cured faster.”

From Opposition to Alignment

Rather than fighting these entrenched interests, AdviNOW developed a strategy to align them. “AdviNOW saves you and it saves the patient. Nobody loses. And so all the constituencies can win when AdviNOW is adopted.”

This approach shaped their entire go-to-market strategy. Instead of positioning themselves as disruptors, they became enablers. For large hospital systems using primary care as a loss leader, AdviNOW offered a way to “make it so it’s not a lost leader.” For physicians burning out from administrative work, they provided relief without threatening their core role.

Strategic Market Entry

AdviNOW’s initial focus on urgent care and primary care clinics wasn’t just about market size – it was about finding the perfect alignment of incentives. These facilities “suffer the most with the overhead burden and the low profitability,” making them ideal early adopters.

The company also took a strategic approach to funding, seeking investors who could strengthen their stakeholder relationships. “I also have companies like Global Med, which is a strategic investor. They sell medical equipment, and bundling AdviNOW software with their medical equipment is a strategy that they were considering.”

Building Trust in a Conservative Industry

Healthcare’s resistance to change isn’t just about money – it’s about risk. As James notes, “Physicians have regulatory knowledge. Why? Because if they get it wrong, they go to jail.” This understanding led AdviNOW to position their AI as an enhancement rather than a replacement for medical expertise.

The Future State

The endgame isn’t disruption – it’s transformation. “I don’t think the world will ever be without physicians, because humans need physicians to explain what it all means. But physicians won’t be spending their time on the simple stuff that will all go away.”

For B2B founders entering regulated industries, AdviNOW’s experience offers a crucial lesson: sometimes the path to transformation isn’t through disruption, but through careful alignment of stakeholder interests. As James puts it, “I’m looking forward to a world where healthcare is not a mystery. Healthcare is solved.” The key to solving it? Making sure everyone wins along the way.