Starting a telemedicine business today - how do I proceed?

There are appealing reasons to start a telemedicine and digital health platform business today:

• Telemedicine usage is now massively higher than before the pandemic, and the global telemedicine market is projected to reach $460 billion by 2030. This demonstrates that telemedicine is a booming industry and not just a passing trend.
• Patient expectations in the digital age demand convenience such as instant access to medical professionals, remote consultations from home, digital prescriptions, and reduced wait times – all of which telemedicine fulfills.
• Telemedicine expands reach by breaking geographic barriers, allowing providers to serve patients in other regions or countries.
• Many treatments in lifestyle and longevity medicine can be effectively provided in digital form.

These factors combine to make telemedicine a highly relevant, profitable, and sustainable business opportunity in 2025 and beyond, responding to evolving healthcare needs and technology trends. It is therefore not surprising that we receive numerous requests to assist in the development of telemedicine platforms and global telemedicine business models. One key question raised is:

Starting a telemedicine business today - how do I proceed?

To approach this systematically, it is important to break the process down into clear and actionable steps:

1. Identify Your Telehealth Niche: Focus on a specific area such as longevity, mental health, weight loss, chronic disease management, pediatric care, (wo)men's health, dermatology, or nutrition counseling. Specializing helps target marketing and service delivery efficiently.
2. Develop Your Business Model: Define your value proposition, revenue streams, key partnerships, cost structure, and patient acquisition strategies. Use financial modeling to forecast expenses and revenues.
3. Build Your Technology Platform: Design and implement your digital infrastructure required for service delivery.
4. Execute Your Marketing Strategy: Create an effective marketing plan targeting your chosen niche. Leverage digital channels, strategic partnerships, and patient engagement initiatives to build trust, increase visibility, and retain users over the long term.
5. Take Legal Realization Into Consideration: Prepare a legal sketch of your business model. This early assessment ensures feasibility and strengthens investor confidence.
6. Secure Funding and Plan Finances: Obtain the necessary capital through equity or debt financing and develop a comprehensive financial plan.

Once you have identified a target patient group, developed a comprehensive business model and thought planned the digital platform set-up, navigating legal and regulatory requirements early on is crucial. When approaching potential investors, a legal feasibility study is key. We call this a legal sketch.

This legal sketch contains

• Consideration of the legal framework for medical practice and concrete implementation of digital health services
• Legally compliant design of treatment contracts
• Public advertising for treatment methods and prescription drugs Prescription forwarding to cooperating partner pharmacies
• Liability aspects (e.g., malpractice, platform responsibility, technical failures, data security)
• Data protection and compliance with privacy regulations
• Cross-border healthcare delivery rules and jurisdictional conflicts
• Licensing requirements for healthcare professionals across different jurisdictions
• Requirements for professional liability insurance and platform-level insurance coverage
• Documentation and record-keeping obligations for digital consultations

This legal sketch enables you to proceed with the legal realization of your plan and is a prerequisite of contract negotiation and drafting. To move forward successfully, you will need a team of international legal experts in digital health who can refine your ideas while taking into account differing regulations across countries.

In summary: Start with a clear plan, develop it with regulatory expertise and ensure both business and legal feasibility before launching your telemedicine venture.