June 2013 – Mike Hammons

June 25, 2013

Why Medical Device Innovation Doesn?t Need To Cost A Fortune

Medical Device Innovation Doesn?t Need To Cost A Fortune

reducing-medical-device-cost | Photo Courtesy of spectrumonline http://www.flickr.com/photos/40234882@N07/3702319394/sizes/q/

Medical device innovation?isn?t just about making substantial investments in research and development. It?s also about recognizing true market needs, suggests an article on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website.?Even when you are designing with your existing technology you can actually subtly shift the way you design in order to address the need better,? says Stacey Chang, associate partner and director of IDEO?s health and wellness practice.For example, in the past, a sales representative would only have a relationship with the physician, who would decide whether the hospital or clinic should invest in the product or drug. Now, more people are involved, from buying departments to insurance companies and legal.Even patients play an important role.?Through social media and specialized websites, they can talk about treatments they?ve received. That drives patients to have those conversations with physicians and even push certain treatments based on what they?ve heard. Even though sales representatives might not deal directly with patients, the industry must understand what their concerns are.

CRM solutions can cost-effectively track these conversations and automate processes.?Many medical device sales CRM systems have these capabilities built in, so there?s no need for complex implementations.

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June 19, 2013

How Can Companies Minimize Layoffs By Cutting Costs With Medical Device Sales CRM Software?

cut-costs-crm-software | Photo Courtesy of 401(K) 2013 http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6355840185/ Traditionally, medical device companies have focused on paper and pen, Excel spreadsheets and gut instinct, rather than adopting new technologies. Now, that?s changing, and companies are turning to tools such as medical device sales CRM software to improve internal processes and systems.

Recently, medical device company Zimmer Holdings announced that it will not saddle its distributors with the costs of the new medical device excise tax, according to an article on the MassDevice website. ?The company has spent several years streamlining its operations and looking for ways to cut costs in order to prepare for the tax,? the article explains.

On the one hand, it?s good that a very large medical device maker like Zimmer is not going to pass the cost on to its distributors, thereby doing its part to help reduce health care costs.

On the other hand, one of the ways they?re doing this is through a reduction in workforce. Last year, Zimmer announced significant outsourcing and layoffs, the MassDevice article reports, and was among the first to publicly blame its workforce cuts on the medical device excise tax.

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June 13, 2013

4 Challenging Medical Device Industry Trends Facing Entrepreneurs

medical-device-industry-challenges | Photo Courtesy of l i g h t p o e t http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightpoet/7077355135/sizes/q/ Today?s industry is ripe for health technology entrepreneurs, according to an article on the MassDevice website. While recent health care reform laws are heavily focused on providers, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, medical device industry trends suggest new opportunities for technology companies in health care innovation.

Hospitals, in particular, are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve outcomes, which means companies must bring products to market that will improve efficiency, speed and outcomes.

For example, if a company has a new knee that?s easier to implant and features a faster recovery time, that would make for a great investment. For payers and providers, it?s not strictly about cost-cutting anymore.

The Affordable Care Act also is driving a greater focus on specialists and referrals. Specialization helps increase expertise and efficiency. Creating a system that improves this patient referral process, which is largely manual today, could reap huge savings for larger hospitals and clinics.

While today?s industry is ripe for health technology entrepreneurs, they face four challenging medical device industry trends.

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June 11, 2013

How Can Partnerships Spur On Medical Device Innovation Despite Federal Funding Cuts?

Partnerships Spur Medical Device Funding Opportunities Regardless of what happens with the fiscal cliff, medical device companies that depend on government research grants should expect and prepare for the fact that funding from federal sources will continue to be harder to find.

Cuts to programs such as the National Institutes of Health could hampermedical device innovation, suggests an article on the Birmingham Business Journal website. The article examines what cuts could mean for biotech firms.

Federal research funding is crucial for ongoing technological innovation, says Raj Singh, CEO of Vivo Biosciences, a company that grows small organs for pharmaceutical testing.

“Those programs are critical for companies like us so we can take innovative ideas to the market and grow our business,” Singh tells the Birmingham Business Journal. Since Vivo started in 2004, the Birmingham, Ala., company has received $5.4 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and NASA. According to Singh, losing such funding could halt research projects.
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June 7, 2013

3 Tactics To Streamline Medical Device Sales

Companies in the medical device industry must find ways to offer cost-efficient solutions to their price-conscious clients in medical centers. Many firms could lower prices by strategically streamlining their medical device sales models.

At most device companies, ?about 40 percent of their budgets are used to market and sell their products,? says Gavin Fabian, CEO of MedPassage, in an article on the Becker?s ASC Review website. Fabian calls these costs ?unsustainable,? explaining that ?the days of a salesman making high six-figure incomes, by spending their days inside the operating rooms of a few busy surgeons, are coming to end.?

To stay competitive, companies must pursue alternative, more efficient methods of sales and medical device marketing.

In fact, physicians are starting to prefer electronic interactions over face-to-face interactions. Most simply don?t have time to talk to a representative. So, instead of having 15 reps knocking on their door, they can take 15 minutes and talk electronically via Skype at a time that?s most convenient for them. The same holds true for recorded videos that they can watch at any time on their computer.

Fabian, in his interview on the Becker?s ASC Review website, raises three good tactics medical device companies could use to lower medical device sales costs.

Define which devices can be safely used without a sales representative present.
Limit sales representative costs on stable technologies.
Emphasize clinical data and cost efficiency in medical device marketing.

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