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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Better Training The Key To Success In New Medical Device Sales Model

Why Is Better Training The Key To Success In New Medical Device Sales Model?

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Rapid technological advances and an ever-shifting marketplace require a nimble and forward-thinking approach to medical device sales. Companies frequently are adopting new technologies in response to how selling in the industry is changing.

The most critical component of any implementation is the training that goes along with it. Product- or feature-based training no longer is enough. The key is to train everybody how to use the tool in relation to how they do their work. That means an end user would be trained differently than a manager.

An article on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website lists three steps that can help ensure that the company?s first-line management (FLM) team is equipped for the work required and given every opportunity to thrive.

  1. Define roles clearly from the top down, leaving no question about hierarchy and decision-making responsibility.
  2. Select people whose skill sets fall into line with those required of managers, which does not necessarily mean promoting the best sales people into management positions.
  3. Providing sufficient resources and ongoing skills development. This is particularly important for managers who lack experience or are relatively unfamiliar with the corporate culture.

One way to ensure that managers are sufficiently supported is to put the right customer relationship management (CRM) system in place. Managing by spreadsheets, phone calls and emails is considerably different with the right CRM system.

On the other hand, the shiny new system will only be effective if users are trained how to use it in the context of the way they work. Otherwise, they?ll simply fall back into their old habits and the company won?t gain the full value of the system.

One of the major oversights in training that we see is for managers ? specifically, how to manage with these new tools and technologies. One of the greatest risks of failure is to roll out a new system but not teach the managers how to manage using the tools. After all, if an end user?s manager is not using the tool and encouraging use, then people tend to fall back on what they know. This all too often leads to a failed implementation of the CRM tool.

By following the steps above and integrating the sales force with a reliable, comprehensive CRM system, medical product manufacturers can take advantage of an under-leveraged opportunity in the industry ? a well-trained, fully attuned FLM team nimble enough to adjust to the ever-shifting medical device industry.

Source: Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry Online, March 2013

4 Keys For Medical Device Technology Firms To Succeed Amid Changes

4 Keys For Medical Device Technology Firms To Succeed Amid Changes

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Few people in the health care industry would dispute the idea that big changes are ahead. Many fundamental changes already are here.

For starters, health care reform is challenging manufacturers to prove that their devices significantly improve clinical outcomes and reduce a patient?s total cost of health care, and pricing constraints will continue to be a challenge for medical device manufacturers as health care reimbursements decline.

In fact, it?s estimated that the squeeze from new regulations will force health care providers to cut overhead by 20 to 40 percent. Innovative medical device technology companies can play a role in securing a fundamentally different future for the nation?s health care industry by proactively addressing these cost concerns.

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

Voice Recognition Innovations Can Revolutionize Medical Device Technology

How Might Voice Recognition Innovations Revolutionize Medical Device Technology?

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Ray Kurzweil showed us voice recognition in computers was possible. Siri showed us how voice recognition could be cool. Star Trek showed how awesome it will be.

Could voice recognition innovations revolutionize medical device technology? Believe it.

A blog post on The Huffington Post website highlights the possibilities of voice-guided (or voice-enabled) technologies, specifically mentioning Auvi-Q, an epinephrine auto-injector that talks users through the injection process during a severe allergic reaction.

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

How Will 3D Printing Impact Medical Device Technology?

How Will 3D Printing Impact Medical Device Technology?

3d-printing-technology | Photo Courtesy of richardjsum http://www.flickr.com/photos/12115945@N00/5812248560/sizes/q/We are on the cusp of seeing some really amazing innovation and growth in 3D printing.

Innovations in 3D printing could increase efficiency in medical device technology, but don?t expect the human element to disappear anytime soon.

An article on the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website quotes futurist Thomas Frey, who says 2 billion jobs will vanish due to innovations in automation. That?s about half the jobs on the planet.

This is almost a doomsday prediction here. A total of 2 billion jobs lost would be huge, obviously. But a bright spot is the fact that ?the Internet created 2.6 jobs for each lost to technology-related efficiencies,? according to McKinsey & Company. Other technological innovations could have similar impacts on the workforce in the future.

Overall, the future does look bright for medical device manufacturers. While 3D printing could eventually replace some types of manufacturing, other types are just too intricate or complicated to be completely automated by 3D printing, especially in the medical device industry. Also, there will be many jobs replaced by people who are needed to sell and service these new 3D machines that may be used to replace manufacturing workers. And people will continue to drive medical device innovation.

Frey believes 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing. His thinking is along the same lines as that of Chris Anderson, former editor-in-chief of ?Wired? magazine. Anderson has ?predicted that 3D printing will ultimately be more important than the Internet,? the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry article notes, with applications in the medical field of tissue engineering, prosthetic limbs and potentially artificial organs. Frey says it could effect change in the manufacturing sector as much as Henry Ford?s assembly line.

That?s a pretty bold statement. Keep in mind that 3D printing technology has only been around for a few years. Perhaps at some point in the future, we?ll see a ?Star Trek?-style replicator system that can conjure up anything on demand, but don?t expect to see anything like that in the next 15 years.

Source: Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry, January 2013

How Medical Device Technology Boosts Productivity And Lowers Costs

How Can Medical Device Technology Boost Productivity And Lower Costs?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54851733@N06/5079939842/sizes/q/Despite a lot of less-than-stellar news for the medical device industry with layoffs and the medical device tax, the good news is the industry is still projected to experience very good growth over the next five years.

In fact, a new report shows that the implantable medical device market is expected to grow 8 percent between 2011 and 2018, according to an article on the MedCity News website. With growth comes the opportunity to improve the way things are done operationally.

Medical device technology and software applications in particular are a good investment to help boost productivity, improve efficiency and lower costs. With technology, medical device companies can gain better visibility into sales opportunities, guide sales teams to improved performance, provide better customer service, and help the marketing department take advantage of the rapidly expanding channels of information available to interact with and engage influencers. Plus, when it comes to social media, new mobile technologies allow for enhanced productivity and quicker responses to customer inquiries.

Traditionally, medical device companies have not been on the leading edge of technology. It has ranked last among the life sciences teams in adopting technological innovations. But companies can?t keep operating the same old way. They need to replace legacy systems and move away from managing their businesses with spreadsheets.

Implantable medical devices will be a $73.9 billion industry in 2018, up from $43.1 billion in 2011, according to projections from the Transparency Market Research report. Medical device sales teams must be able to stake their claim in the market, which includes reconstructive joint implants, dental implants and breast implants.

?All segments are expected to see growth because of the increasing prevalence of chronic disease and an aging population,? the MedCity News article reports, but notes the orthopedic implant segment will continue to dominate market value and growth.

Source: MedCity News, January 2013