MedTech FAQ: clinical adoption, StarMap® and how we work.
Straight answers to the questions founders, accelerators and investors ask us most, grouped by topic, each with a link to the page that goes deeper. 26 questions, plain English.
The framework
StarMap and clinical adoption.
What the framework measures, and why approval is only the starting line.
What is StarMap?
StarMap is EvoMed Consulting's framework for clinical adoption. It scores a MedTech venture against seven success factors that decide whether a product ends up in routine clinical use after approval: specialization, predictability of services, ambulantization and digitalization, cooperation and ecosystem fit, economic viability, quality of care, and implementation friction. StarMap is a registered EU trade mark.
What does clinical adoption mean?
Clinical adoption is the moment a product becomes part of a physician's daily routine: used on every relevant patient, by every relevant clinician, without a champion in the room. CE marking, a first pilot and a reimbursement code are permissions to enter the market. None of them is evidence that clinicians will use the product.
Why do most MedTech ventures fail after approval?
Because approval measures safety and performance, not fit. Roughly three out of four venture-backed MedTech ventures never return their capital, and in our survey of more than 150 innovators, 41.9 percent were struggling with several success factors at the same time. The typical failure is a product that works and is never adopted.
Industry report: why most MedTech startups fail · Clinical adoption
What is Approval Theater?
Approval Theater is our name for a venture that collects every trophy, CE mark, funding round, pilot, and still fails, because none of those milestones proves that the product fits clinical routine. Every monitor is green while the patient is flat. It is the pattern we see most often in pitch decks and in due diligence.
What are the seven success factors?
Specialization (one clinical problem, one user), predictability of services (fits the shift instead of adding a step), ambulantization and digitalization (works outside the hospital), cooperation and ecosystem fit (standards instead of custom interfaces), economic viability (someone can pay), quality of care (measurable outcomes) and implementation friction (phases, owners, adoption after go-live). The Methodology Guide explains each in depth.
Is StarMap a checklist?
No. A checklist assumes every item weighs the same. StarMap is a navigation system: it shows which factor is the real blocker for this venture at this stage and in which order to fix things. Choosing the wrong next priority is where MedTech ventures quietly die, which is why sequencing matters more than any single fix.
How we work
Engagements, pricing and what you get.
Three engagements, one entry point, fixed prices where we can name them.
How does an engagement with EvoMed start?
With a free thirty-minute screening call. EvoMed's experts, practicing physicians, look at your situation and tell you whether a StarMap engagement would help. If it would not, we say so. The call is booked directly in our calendar; no form, no pitch deck required.
What is a StarMap Discovery?
Discovery is the diagnosis before any prescription: a structured self-assessment, a 120-minute CrossCheck session with EvoMed's experts, and a board-ready Mission Brief that names the emergency brake in your clinical-commercial alignment and prescribes the Navigator modules you actually need. Fixed fee: 1,800 euros for pre-revenue ventures, 3,500 euros for revenue-generating companies.
What is StarMap Explorer?
Explorer is executive-level clinical judgment on retainer, available by invitation after a Navigator engagement, with a minimum engagement of six months. It is for ventures that need a practicing physician's view in the room continuously, not for a defined project.
Who actually does the work?
EvoMed's experts, practicing physicians who still work in hospital wards and intensive care. The founder, Dr. Amel Havkic, created the StarMap framework and wrote the book about it; the assessments and sessions are delivered by the team.
How long does it take?
Discovery runs in about two weeks from the self-assessment to the Mission Brief. Navigator depends on the modules activated; most engagements run six to twelve weeks. The screening call takes thirty minutes.
Do you work with companies outside Germany?
Yes. EvoMed Consulting is based in Offenbach am Main and works with ventures, accelerators and investors across Europe, the UK and the Gulf region. Engagements run in English or German, remotely by default.
Who it is for
Innovators, accelerators, investors.
Three audiences, three different questions, one framework.
I am a MedTech founder. When should I talk to you?
Before you commit the next twelve months of runway to a roadmap. The right moment is when you have a working product and the first signs that clinics like it but do not use it, or when an investor asks how adoption will happen and the answer is a slide. Start with the free Alignment Check.
I run an accelerator. What does StarMap do for a cohort?
It screens ventures on clinical adoption before selection, not after demo day, so you stop accelerating products that clinics will never adopt. We run it as a cohort programme with a pilot-cohort offer; the price is set per cohort in a conversation, not on a price list.
I am an investor. Can you do this as part of due diligence?
Yes. The diligence sprint answers the one question your analysts cannot answer from a deck: will this product be adopted in clinical routine once the CE mark, the pilot and the reimbursement code are in place? It is scoped per deal; talk to us before the term sheet, not after.
Do you work with medical device, digital health and diagnostics companies alike?
Yes. The seven success factors apply to anything that has to be adopted by clinicians in routine care: devices, software as a medical device, diagnostics and services. What changes between them is which factor tends to be the blocker, not the framework.
Free resources
The Alignment Check, the whitepaper, the report and the book.
What each one is, what it costs, and what we ask for it.
What is the StarMap Alignment Check?
A free screening of the StarMap principles: fourteen yes/no questions, two per success factor, in under three minutes. Your constellation lights up on the page and shows which factors are aligned, partially aligned or not aligned. It is a screening to see whether a deeper diagnostic makes sense, not the assessment itself.
Do I have to leave my email for the Alignment Check?
No. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is stored on our side. If you want to talk it through, you book a screening call and bring the PDF of your reading. Part two of the check, the cost calculation, keeps your figures in your browser only.
What is in the whitepaper?
The StarMap Methodology Guide: the seven success factors in depth, how each one is scored, and a self-diagnosis you can run on your own venture. It is the written version of what the assessment measures.
What is in the industry report?
Why most MedTech startups fail: the hierarchy of failure causes from our survey of more than 150 MedTech innovators, including the finding that 41.9 percent struggle with several success factors at once.
What is the book about?
Fit before Scale is the StarMap framework in book form: why billion-dollar health ventures failed, the four founder archetypes that repeat the same mistakes, and the seven success factors that decide clinical adoption. It ships in November 2026; the waiting list is open.
Where can I read real cases?
The case reports show StarMap applied to real ventures: the starting position, which factor turned out to be the blocker, and what changed. Company names are anonymised where the client asked for it.
About EvoMed
The company behind the framework.
Who we are, what we were awarded, and how to reach us.
Who is EvoMed Consulting?
A physician-led MedTech advisory firm based in Offenbach am Main, Germany. We sit at the intersection of clinical practice, regulation and market strategy, and we specialise in one metric: clinical adoption. Our consultants are practicing physicians.
What awards has EvoMed received?
Best Market Access Consultancy of the Year at the MedTech World Awards 2025, and the founder was named Best Rising Star of the Industry 2026 by MedTech World in Dubai.
How do I get in touch?
Book a screening call directly in our calendar, or write to info@evomed-consulting.eu. If you have taken the Alignment Check, send the PDF of your reading before the call so we can prepare.
Your question is not here?
Bring it to a screening call. Thirty minutes with EvoMed's experts, practicing physicians, and a straight answer on whether StarMap would help your venture.
