A 61-year-old grandmother with a debilitating spine injury lies in the operating room undergoing surgery to receive an innovative synthetic bone graft substitute. Regaining enough function to lift her grandchild and having the ability to interact with her family again could mean everything to the patient. To bring a solution that enhances her quality of life means creating novel biomedical materials, while delivering them with value. Yet, the complexity and cost of developing these new technologies can overwhelm a medical device company’s in-house staff.

Therefore, aligning with a strategic partner with broad research and development (R&D), manufacturing and materials expertise, regulatory support, and marketing capabilities can efficiently expand internal resources. This allows medical device developers to innovate as nimbly as a startup, and scale-up production and distribution as quickly as an industry giant.

The AdvaMed MedTech Conference was an inspiring reminder that creative solutions to improving health is exactly what the medical device industry is all about.  As I pursued the agenda of topics, listened to the professional exchanges and visited the many vendors, I was struck by the focus on innovation and leveraging of new scientific and technological advances.  However, as a regulatory consultant, my mind drifted to concerns over losing sight of the “mundane” operational, quality and data reliability challenges that these new innovations bring. 

By now it’s hard to find a medtech company that doesn’t have a commercial strategy in the U.S. to improve its contracting and sales performance with integrated delivery networks (IDNs). It’s also hard, however, to find companies that are completely satisfied with their investment results. Most have implemented some type of key account management (KAM) role to cover some or all of the IDNs.  Moderately experienced ones have at least developed some type of IDN segmentation model to sort out those only interested in lower costs vs. those more interested in partnering with manufacturers. More advanced companies also develop segment-level value proposition messaging and more robust offerings that can incorporate product, services and perhaps an element of risk-sharing. Commonly, they also have both a division-level and a headquarters-level focus to implement multichannel/multi-role strategies to better meet the complex needs of this customer. Regardless, even the most advanced companies in this area would be the first to acknowledge that they have a long way to go to perfect their approach to working with IDNs, which begs the question: Is there a perfect IDN commercial model solution to strive for? 

What will the future of health care look like? And who is going to pay for it?

Early implementation of proactive and predictive post-market surveillance allows MedTech companies to achieve a competitive edge.

Data and technology are fundamentally changing the way customers buy and engage with you.

For anyone who grew up in Michigan, the Ford River Rouge Plant is legendary, in both the scale of its ambition and its dramatic fall as the auto industry matured. Built outside of Detroit in 1928, it was the largest manufacturing facility in the world at its peak, with 16 million square feet and 100,000 employees. Unloaded on the docks of the River Rouge were iron ore, coal and other raw materials. Rolling out the other side of the factory were fully finished cars. In between was a steel mill that boasted its own coal power plant. By 2018 the factory was idled and now has a museum, a light truck assembly facility and a very large parking lot.

We are excited to present the progress of NESTcc, the National Evaluation System for health Technology Coordinating Center at The MedTech conference in September.  NESTcc is now up and running and interested in furthering its partnerships with the MedTech industry to increase opportunities for using Real-World Evidence.  We are looking forward to providing multiple avenues for engagement between attendees at The MedTech Conference and NESTcc.  We invite you to:

At The MedTech Conference, it’s our mission to provide opportunities for business development professionals to maximize their time and efficiently accomplish their goals onsite. That’s why we’re proud to introduce the new MedTech Connect. New for this year, MedTech Connect features a new look, a new feel, and an advanced meeting scheduler to help you secure the important meetings you want while in Philadelphia this fall. Learn more here.

If you missed our webinar showing off the new system, you can view the recorded version below or access the slides here.

The dynamic and multifaceted medtech landscape is comprised of several sectors facing different challenges. What every sector has in common, however, is the need to stay up-to-date and current on the latest issues, best practices and solutions in their respective spaces.

The MedTech Conference programming is always noted as one of the biggest attendee highlights. We strive to deliver the most relevant topics and trends for our diverse audience, presented by the industry’s most notable thought leaders and experts. With over 80 sessions and 250+ speakers, however, we won’t deny it can be a little challenging pick out your “must-attend” sessions. We’re taking the guess work out of setting your agenda—we’ve listed a few of our top sessions and indicated the industry sectors they’re most relevant to.  Preview our selections below, then check out the full agenda here.