Month: September 2013

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Now Is The Time For Medical Device Sales Leaders To Adapt

Why Now Is The Time For Medical Device Sales Leaders To Adapt

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There are so many challenges in the medical device sales industry and in health care that companies must recognize the total economic impact of their products and solutions.

Someone who understands that is Medtronic Chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak, who is profiled in an article on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website.

Ishrak, who became the company?s CEO in 2011, is quoted in the article as saying that the industry has been slow to adapt to a changing environment. In the past, physicians were basically the only ones making important decisions about innovative medical devices. Today, medical device sales reps are speaking to not only physicians but also to administrative staff and other stakeholders. Therefore, it?s imperative to help them understand the economic benefits of innovative medical devices.

Read more here >>>

Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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Remote Technology Can Make Medical Device Sales Reps More Efficient

Remote Technology Make Medical Device Sales Reps More Efficient

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What if medical device sales reps could remotely participate in several operations at the same time using technology? That?s a possibility raised by a system highlighted in an article on the MedCity News website. Reps could use technology such as iPads and even Google Glass to communicate with surgeons during procedures, the article says.

This is a very interesting concept that could allow medical device sales reps to have greater access to more physicians in a shorter amount of time. There are many hours not well-spent by reps because they?re in a procedure in which the surgeon will only be using their medical device for a portion of the surgery.

Most reps are encouraged to not enter or leave the operating room during a procedure because it could increase the risk of infection. Using remote technology, medical device sales reps might be able to focus their time on other opportunities while still responding to physicians? questions or needs during a procedure.

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Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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Funding For Medical Device Innovation Doesn?t Need To Come From Government

Why Funding For Medical Device Innovation Doesn?t Need To Come From Government

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While funding for medical device innovation is a good thing, it doesn?t necessarily need to come from government, whether that?s in the form of tax breaks or grants.

Robert Langer, an MIT professor and this year?s recipient of the Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) Lifetime Achievement Award, said in a recent interview on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website that a lack of funding is the biggest issue facing the medical device technology industry. He argued for incentives such as tax breaks for those investments.

However, that money should come from the private sector where it works much faster with far less waste. Our tax laws in particular are way too complex already, and all too often end up choosing winners and losers.

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Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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7 Things Every Successful Medical Device Sales Rep Needs To Know

7 Things Every Successful Medical Device Sales Rep Needs To Know

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The knowledge required for medical device sales reps to succeed is constantly expanding, and sales training won?t be enough for them to keep up. A post on the Business 2 Community blog nails all the points about why reps must continuously stay up-to-date with the medical device industry, including medical device industry trends, regulations and competition.

Medical device sales CRM systems can help by bringing the information that reps are typically searching for directly into the system. It allows users to easily keep up with industry news or trends and can even send alerts about a competitor based on news articles or social media posts.

The best part is the system captures all this data from multiple sources and puts it in one place within the medical device sales CRM system. That means busy medical device sales reps don?t have to spend hours searching on the Internet for news or topics that are important to them and their customers.

The Business 2 Community article refers to an anecdote about a ?Book of Knowledge? ? not an actual publication, but a metaphor to describe the variety of information sales reps need to have at their disposal. The article lists seven extremely important things for medical devices sales reps to know from the ?Book of Knowledge.?

  1. Who does what: Reps have to be familiar with the responsibilities and concerns of physicians, staff and administrators.
  2. Medical knowledge: Reps should be up-to-date with the latest medical device technology, anatomy and studies relevant to their devices.
  3. The competition: Reps must understand how their competitors? devices work.
  4. The hospital: Reps need to know the rules for visiting labs and operating rooms.
  5. Issues and ethics: Reps should be knowledgeable about areas such as FDA regulation and health care reform, as well as ethical standards such as Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) standards.
  6. Economics: Reps should know how money flows through hospitals and the health care system.
  7. Medical device sales skills: Reps must always be revising their approach to keep up with customers and medical device trends.

Keeping reps informed about everything they need to know requires input from sales trainers, managers, marketing and IT, the post explains.

How does your company keep reps up-to-date on everything they need to know? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Read more here >>>

Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 15 available soon

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 15 will be available soon

Dynamics CRM 2011 UR15Good news for Dynamics CRM 2011 users, Update Rollup 15 (UR15) will be released soon. This Update Rollup includes many CRM for Outlook Client improvements that are a result of the work being done in CRM 2013. So, current (on-premise) customers can benefit from performance and stability improvements that have been made for the new release.

Some of the more juicy tidbits:

Update Rollup 15 for Dynamics CRM 2011 provides the following improvements:
It includes a new feature that is scheduled to be delivered with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013. This feature moves the CRM client-specific workload into its own process so that it no longer shares memory with the Microsoft Office Outlook process. This feature is also known as Process Isolation.
It includes an upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server for Windows CE 4.0 for better memory management, better caching, and connection enhancements.
It improves the Address Book Provider to reduce performance issues that are caused by large address books.

Details are here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2843571/en-us

This update will include additional updates for Server, Email Router and Reporting Services. Stay tuned for the release and we will communicate as soon as we have more information.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Release Preview Guide Available

Dynamics CRM 2013 Release Preview GuideMicrosoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is right around the corner! Bob Stutz posted a blog highlighting the release of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Release Preview Guide!? I recommend you check out his blog post here and then download the Release Preview Guide for complete details!

This guide reveals the upcoming enhancements to start preparing users for the upcoming 2013 release of the next major version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The guide is broken down in five investment areas:

  1. User experience
  2. Process
  3. Tablet and mobile
  4. Enterprise collaboration
  5. Platform enhancements

We?re very excited about the new streamlined form interface, flexible guided processes, simple business rule creation and the increased options for mobile and tablet experiences.

Feel free to contact Infinity Info Systems to learn more or request additional information.

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Infinity Info Systems Presenting at CRM Users Group (CRMUG)

Infinity Info Systems Presenting at CRM Users Group (CRMUG) in Tampa!

CRMUG Summit 2013

 

Tampa, Florida is the place to be October 20 ? 24, 2013 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers, partners, and prospective customers.

Infinity Info Systems is once again contributing our time and talented people in sharing impactful information for increasing your CRM success. Bob Peskin and Mike Hammons will both be presenting some really great content.

  • CRM Reporting 201: C-Level Visibility with Dynamics CRM Dashboards
  • Managing Microsoft Dynamics CRM & Office 365 Environments
  • Techie Talk: Upgrading Complex Systems
  • Techie Talk: Reporting Panel
  • Techie Talk: Upgrading Complex Systems
  • User Adoption: Making Progress with Social CRM
  • User Adoption: Taking Advantage of the Outlook Client

REGISTER TODAY for CRMUG Summit!

Another great reason for attending this year, Microsoft will be providing the first public, comprehensive review of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013…including about thirty minutes of live demonstrations by Param Kahlon, Group Manager at Microsoft.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, formerly code named ‘Orion,’ will be featured in the CRM keynotes for both The Partner Connections Event and CRMUG Summit. You don?t want to miss this! The sessions that follow Param?s will dive deeper into new features and functionality that will blow Dynamics CRM customers away.

Keynote Times and Dates:

  • For CRMUG Summit, Tuesday, October 22nd from 8:00 am ? 9:30 am
  • For Partners – The Partner Connections Event, Sunday, October 20th from 1:00 ? 1:45 pm

A quick note for our Partner friends and colleagues. The Partner Connections Event is the premier opportunity for Microsoft Dynamics Partners to build sales, marketing, leadership, consultant, and developer/architect skills by networking and learning from each other and industry experts. We hope to see you there!

REGISTER TODAY for The Partner Connections Event!

This weekend (September 15) is your last chance to save $100 on Summit registrations – don’t wait any longer to sign up!

 

 

 

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Why Must Any Strong Medical Device Marketing Plan Use Key Opinion Leaders

Why Must Any Strong Medical Device Marketing Plan Use Key Opinion Leaders?

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The 2013 Deloitte annual survey of U.S. physicians reveals that they still believe doctors have the most influence in choosing equipment for patients and procedures. This news, highlighted in an article on the Becker?s ASC Review website, could have a big influence on the approach to medical device marketing moving forward.

The survey showed that about 70 percent of U.S. physicians believe that physician-led peer review of new medical technology is the top best practice when making purchasing decisions. It is incumbent upon medical device manufacturers to understand that physicians still rely on other physicians and peer reviews of medical device technologies. To put that knowledge into practice with a sound medical device marketing plan, it is critical for manufacturers to use key opinion leaders (KOLs) to help influence others.

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Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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How Can Medical Device Sales Reps Better Connect With Surgeons

How Can Medical Device Sales Reps Better Connect With Surgeons?

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Medical device sales reps need to have a good understanding of their customers? product interests, the competitive landscape within a hospital or an account, and who will be the decision makers and influencers within their respective territories.

A recent article on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website shares insights along these lines, noting that surgeons and other physicians still have a big say when it comes to decisions on purchasing medical devices.

It?s great to hear that medical device companies and surgeons still feel they have the power to make decisions about the products they choose to select for their patients. This knowledge can be particularly useful for medical device sales reps.

?Surgeons still need assistance in the OR from device experts,? explains Kurt Jacobus, CEO of MedShape, in the article.

This is a key trend. Medical device sales reps must be experts; otherwise, physicians feel as if the reps are wasting their time.

Read more here >>>

Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.

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How Are Smartphones Driving Today?s Medical Device Innovation

How Are Smartphones Driving Today?s Medical Device Innovation?

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An article on the InformationWeek Healthcare website drives home just how incredible recent advances in mobile technology have been. In the article, the author shares highlights of physician and author Eric Topol recent appearance on ?The Colbert Report,? during which comedian Stephen Colbert received a fascinating lesson in how smartphones have begun to drive medical device innovation.

Topol used his smartphone?s otoscope application to show the studio audience a vivid image of Colbert?s ear canal. The otoscope app is not yet on the market, but it?s coming, along with many more health care utilities that will literally put the power of diagnosis and even treatment in the hands of patients.

There are some amazing real-world uses of mobile technologies focused on health care. A smartphone actually can be multiple devices, in that it also can monitor heart rates, blood sugar, oxygen levels and many other vital statistics. This can be extended even further to include the ability to capture that information for each patient the physician is treating. That means no more transcribing results and huge efficiency gains.

Read more here >>>

Article originally posted on our CRM for Medical Device Organizations website.