New Features or Polish: What Moves the Needle?

Let’s be honest — regulated fields like healthcare aren’t a breeding ground for innovation. It’s a risk-averse industry that needs to move toward a tech-empowered future since that’s the best way to improve operations and patient outcomes. It’s our job as executives, especially ones like me who have a background in engineering, to get things moving.

Did this ever happen to you? You’re talking to a Product Manager who’s seeking to increase the price of their product. They propose changing the list tool to make it more comprehensive, which is a clear example of polish in healthcare software. You’re torn between accepting their proposal and pointing out there are better things to focus on to achieve their goal.

That’s a real story from one of my recent meetings.

An eager staffing company would jump on the shiny feature, no questions asked. However, our mission at Vitamin is to be a reliable partner in achieving our clients’ business goals, so I suggested a better use of the funds — creating automated notifications for patients. Polish is important, but sustained, aggressive growth comes from innovative features. Otherwise, you have a great-looking interface but no competitive edge.

So, when do you start something new, and when do you refine what’s already there? Polish ensures quality, and innovation fuels growth. You can’t have one without the other, but you can prioritize for the best results. Vitamin can step in if your internal workforce lacks the capacity or know-how to think outside the box.

Remember, both new functionalities and polish have a place in a successful SaaS project. I’m just pointing out that teams often operate out of habit and take the path of least resistance. Challenge them to think, grow, and refine based on your goals, not only what seems the easiest or most exciting.

PS If you feel like sharing, email me with how you manage the balance between features and polish in your company.