Why Digital Health Needs Non-Clinicians
Digital health is having a moment. New solutions are launching and health systems are finally showing signs they want to do more than pilot.
Yet, most of the attention goes to clinical voices: doctors, nurses, and other people with provider credentials. What doesn’t get talked about enough is how much this field needs people from other industries to actually scale.
If you’re coming from tech, consulting, policy, or even product marketing, you’ve probably asked yourself: how would I fit in here? It’s a fair question. The industry is full of acronyms and regulatory quirks that often feel like a foreign language.
I’ve written this piece not with generic advice, but with a roadmap that reflects what I’ve seen working: what roles to aim for, how to talk about your background, and what makes this space different (but not off-limits). You don’t need a white coat, but you do need context, framing, and a bit of patience.
Understanding the Digital Health Ecosystem
If you’re trying to break in, it helps to know what you’re looking at. “Digital health” sounds like a buzzword, but it’s really just the use of software and connected tools to improve how healthcare is delivered, paid for, administered, or experienced.
That includes everything from virtual care platforms and remote monitoring tools to AI-driven diagnostics and patient engagement apps. Some of these focus on the care delivery side; others on infrastructure, billing, or operations.
There’s also a wide range of players.
- You’ve got early-stage startups solving specific workflow problems.
- You’ve got scale-ups offering comprehensive platforms for health systems or payers.
- Large systems like Kaiser and Mayo now have innovation arms that look and act like startups themselves.
- On top of that, major insurers, pharma companies, and even retailers are investing heavily in digital tools to drive outcomes or market share.
The reality is, all of these organizations need people who understand more than just medicine. They need engineers, product managers, policy thinkers, market strategists, and people who can connect the dots across health and tech. You don’t need to be clinical to matter here. You need to understand the ecosystem, speak the language, and know where you bring context the clinicians don’t.
Digital Health Roles That Don’t Require a Clinical Background
You don’t need to code or carry a stethoscope to be useful in this space. Most digital health companies are still trying to figure out how to bring their ideas to life (development), get them paid for (commercialization), and make them stick with users (retention). That opens the door to a wide range of roles for people with experience in product, policy, analytics, and commercial growth.
Product management
Product management is one of the most common paths in. You’re scoping features, mapping workflows, and working across clinical and engineering teams to ship something that actually works. If you’ve built tools in regulated or enterprise environments, that’s directly relevant. The key is showing you can work across stakeholders — patients, clinicians, engineers, buyers.
Go-to-market (GTM) and commercialization
Go-to-market and commercialization roles focus on how solutions actually get into health systems, employers, or payer networks. These roles often sit at the intersection of sales, partnerships, and marketing. If you’ve ever had to explain complex products in simple language or drive adoption with buyers who don’t want to change, you’re closer to this than you think.
Strategy and operations
Strategy and operations roles are about helping the company scale. You might be mapping org structure, pricing models, or internal systems. If you’ve worked in management consulting or operations at a growth-stage company, this is your zone.
Data science and analytics
Data science and analytics teams help make sense of usage, outcomes, and ROI — especially when a company’s trying to prove it improves health or reduces cost. You don’t need to be a clinician to work with claims data or build dashboards for value-based contracts.
Policy and regulatory
Policy and regulatory roles help companies navigate state and federal laws, credentialing, reimbursement codes, and compliance frameworks. If you’ve worked in healthcare-adjacent policy or have experience with HIPAA, CMS, or FDA guidance, you’re valuable here.
Partnerships and ecosystem
Partnerships and ecosystem roles are about connecting the company to the broader health landscape — whether that’s employer groups, pharma, or health systems. Think of it as business development with a healthcare twist.
All of these jobs share one thing: they need people who can operate in ambiguity, translate across functions, and keep both patients and margins in mind.
How to Frame Your Experience
One of the first hurdles I see non-clinicians run into is self-doubt. You might think, “I’ve never worked in a hospital,” or “I don’t have a healthcare degree, so maybe I’m not qualified.” But most of what digital health companies need is experience solving hard problems in messy systems. That describes a lot of industries, not just healthcare.
So instead of saying, “I’ve never worked with patients,” you might say, “I’ve scaled products in regulated industries where data privacy, compliance, and reliability are non-negotiable.” That hits closer to how buyers in this space think. If your background is in fintech, edtech, logistics, or even government contracting, there are real parallels.
In resumes and intro calls, swap out broad claims for specifics. Instead of “led product development,” say “shipped features across multi-stakeholder teams in a compliance-heavy environment.” If you’ve worked with CMS, HIPAA, SOC 2, or ISO standards — name it. That context matters.
Transferable strengths show up everywhere in this industry. Systems thinking helps when designing workflows that involve clinicians, billing teams, and patients. Experience with cross-functional teams comes in handy when you’re sitting between product, sales, and clinical informatics. If you’ve led projects where the buyer isn’t the end user, welcome to digital health.
Framing is everything. You’re not starting from zero — you’re repackaging your experience so someone in health tech can understand why it matters to them.
What Makes Digital Health Different (But Not Inaccessible)
Here’s what catches most people off guard: healthcare is full of complexity you can’t just “figure out later.” There are federal rules, state laws, payer contracts, coding systems, and credentialing pathways — and they all shape how a solution can be sold, reimbursed, and scaled. If you’re used to building quickly and asking for forgiveness later, this part of the learning curve takes some getting used to.
One of the biggest surprises for people coming from outside is the sales cycle. Health systems don’t move fast. Buying decisions involve layers of approval and often require proving return on investment, alignment with clinical strategy, and compliance readiness. It’s not unusual for a sale to take six months or more.
But here’s the encouraging part: you don’t need to be a healthcare expert to make progress. What matters more is curiosity, pattern recognition, and the humility to ask questions.
If you show you’re willing to learn how care is delivered and paid for — and you’re not afraid to dig into the alphabet soup of CMS, CPT, VBC, and HEDIS — you’ll pick it up faster than you think.
Every year, I watch smart people from outside the industry get up to speed and bring real value. The ones who do it best are the ones who respect the complexity but don’t let it intimidate them.
Getting Into Digital Health: First Steps and Warm Intros
If you’re serious about moving into digital health, you don’t have to sit around waiting for a job post to drop into your lap. The best way in often starts with doing a little homework and opening a few doors.
Follow digital health industry operators
Start by following operators who are already in the space. LinkedIn is where most of them share updates, insights, and even job openings. Pay attention to what they’re working on and how they talk about their role. You’ll learn a lot just by observing the language and priorities.
If you need a friendly starting point, look up Andy Strunk on LinkedIn — I’m always happy to connect with others in this space.
Follow the money
Then, look at who’s funding what. Sites like Rock Health, a16z Bio + Health, or StartUp Health publish reports that show which companies are growing and where the money’s going.
Show up to digital health industry events
Health innovation events, even virtual ones, give you access to panels, pitch sessions, and networking. If you’re not ready to attend a big national event, try local health tech meetups or webinars from accelerators like Techstars Healthcare or MATTER. We wrote a guide to the top digital health conferences happening this year — give it a read after this.
Work with digital health service providers
Another smart path is through services firms — consulting groups, product agencies, or analytics shops that work across a portfolio of digital health companies. This can be a great way to get inside the room, even if you’re not joining an operator directly.
Speak to industry insiders
Finally, reach out to people who’ve made the jump. Especially those who don’t have clinical backgrounds. Most folks are more willing to share advice than you’d expect, especially if you’ve done your homework.
The digital health industry needs more than credentials. It needs your questions, your perspective, and your ability to build in complex systems. If you’re curious and committed, you can absolutely find your way in.
Where to Find Digital Health Jobs
Most digital health jobs aren’t sitting on public job boards. Or if they are, they’re buried under generic titles that don’t tell you much. You’ll find some roles on LinkedIn, Indeed, or BuiltIn — but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
Health job boards
Start with health-focused job boards. Rock Health Jobs and Health Tech Nerds (if you’re a member) often post curated job lists from early-stage to enterprise companies. Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent) is a startup-focused job platform that often features open roles from early-stage to growth companies, including many in digital health. You can filter by remote options, salary ranges, and even funding stage. Redesign Health and a16z Bio + Health-backed companies sometimes publish openings directly through their platforms or newsletters.
Company career pages
Don’t overlook company career pages. Once you identify five to ten digital health companies doing work that resonates with you, set up alerts or check their openings regularly. Even better — reach out before a job is posted. A short, thoughtful note about what you admire and where you think you can help still goes a long way.
Referrals
Finally, internal referrals move faster. If you’ve built any connections from LinkedIn or past industry work, ask for a quick intro or an inside track. Most people in digital health got here through a side door. That means they’re more likely to open it for you, too.
Final Thought: Reframe Your Fit for Digital Health Jobs
You don’t need to be a clinician to make a difference in digital health. What this space needs is clear thinkers who can operate in complex systems, communicate across teams, and stay grounded in the patient and business impact.
The path in isn’t about checking every credential box — it’s about learning fast, asking smart questions, and knowing how to tell your story in the right context.
So keep reading and reaching out. This industry has plenty of room for people like you, and frankly, it won’t reach its potential without you.
