Maria Shepherd, Medi-Vantage05.06.16
Big medical device manufacturers are highly motivated to discover new, innovative services that increase their value proposition globally to hospitals and healthcare providers. As more hospitals contract with fewer vendors, providing a high-value service makes a large medical technology company’s portfolio of products more attractive and more likely to be selected as hospitals reduce the number of vendors in an effort to contain skyrocketing costs.
Why This Is Important
Hospitals need to reduce the number suppliers—even those that provide highly specialized products sold for interventional or surgical procedures. In a survey of hospital administrators and C-suite executives (n=85), New York, N.Y.-based ZS Associates1 found that hospital executives expect cost reduction efforts to continue. However, a new trend is emerging—to improve outcomes in order to minimize penalties from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Which Medtech Companies Are Making a Difference?
Boston Scientific Corporation has announced a joint venture with Accenture plc for post-discharge management of heart failure (HF) patients.2 Boston Scientific is targeting this high-cost patient group that consumes an average of 2 percent of healthcare spending in Europe and has an average 11-day inpatient length of stay. This strategy combines the company’s Advantics program (which includes performance optimization, capital financing, care pathway transformation, and patient management) with Accenture’s analytics platforms. The combination will identify patient population health patterns to enable opportunities to improve the treatment of HF patients through the entire continuum of care, from inpatient to post-discharge to in-home based care. This is especially important for HF patients who typically require lengthy inpatient stays that are expensive to the healthcare system, as seen in Chart 2.
One of Medtronic plc’s strategies is to develop patient management solutions that connect patients to the best possible care and help physicians make more efficient decisions. Although telehealth currently has limited reimbursement, we can expect more favorable reimbursement policies to emerge from CMS and private payers. According to a 2015 report by Cowen Healthcare, health plans, providers, drug retailers, and healthcare IT providers are already using telehealth to meet the healthcare services trend of on-demand, patient-centric care.5 In the report, it is estimated that the total addressable market for outpatient spending on conditions currently treated by telehealth is approximately $57 billion, with expansion possibilities (to add conditions not currently treated by telehealth) to $125 billion.
What Can You Do to Risk-Share and Provide High-Value Services?
The healthcare industry will continue to change, and hospitals and medtech manufacturers are looking for new ways to reduce costs, cut waste, and improve patient care. How can you deliver solutions that help providers successfully use technology and your products to create new opportunities?
References
Maria Shepherd has more than 20 years of leadership experience in medical device/life-science marketing in small startups and top-tier companies. After her industry career, including her role as vice president of marketing for Oridion Medical, where she boosted the company valuation prior to its acquisition by Covidien/Medtronic, director of marketing for Philips Medical and senior management roles at Boston Scientific Corp., she founded Data Decision Group, now re-branded as Medi-Vantage. Medi-Vantage provides marketing and business strategy and innovation research for the medical device industry. The firm quantitatively and qualitatively sizes and segments opportunities, evaluates new technologies, provides marketing services and assesses prospective acquisitions. Shepherd has taught marketing and product development courses, and is a member of the Aligo Medtech Investment Committee (www.msbiv.com). She can be reached at 855-343-3100 ext. 102, or at mshepherd@medi-vantage.com. Visit her website at www.medi-vantage.com.
Why This Is Important
Hospitals need to reduce the number suppliers—even those that provide highly specialized products sold for interventional or surgical procedures. In a survey of hospital administrators and C-suite executives (n=85), New York, N.Y.-based ZS Associates1 found that hospital executives expect cost reduction efforts to continue. However, a new trend is emerging—to improve outcomes in order to minimize penalties from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Which Medtech Companies Are Making a Difference?
Boston Scientific Corporation has announced a joint venture with Accenture plc for post-discharge management of heart failure (HF) patients.2 Boston Scientific is targeting this high-cost patient group that consumes an average of 2 percent of healthcare spending in Europe and has an average 11-day inpatient length of stay. This strategy combines the company’s Advantics program (which includes performance optimization, capital financing, care pathway transformation, and patient management) with Accenture’s analytics platforms. The combination will identify patient population health patterns to enable opportunities to improve the treatment of HF patients through the entire continuum of care, from inpatient to post-discharge to in-home based care. This is especially important for HF patients who typically require lengthy inpatient stays that are expensive to the healthcare system, as seen in Chart 2.
One of Medtronic plc’s strategies is to develop patient management solutions that connect patients to the best possible care and help physicians make more efficient decisions. Although telehealth currently has limited reimbursement, we can expect more favorable reimbursement policies to emerge from CMS and private payers. According to a 2015 report by Cowen Healthcare, health plans, providers, drug retailers, and healthcare IT providers are already using telehealth to meet the healthcare services trend of on-demand, patient-centric care.5 In the report, it is estimated that the total addressable market for outpatient spending on conditions currently treated by telehealth is approximately $57 billion, with expansion possibilities (to add conditions not currently treated by telehealth) to $125 billion.
What Can You Do to Risk-Share and Provide High-Value Services?
The healthcare industry will continue to change, and hospitals and medtech manufacturers are looking for new ways to reduce costs, cut waste, and improve patient care. How can you deliver solutions that help providers successfully use technology and your products to create new opportunities?
References
- http://pages.zsassociates.com/160331MP---Hospital-Study_Press-Release.html
- IN VIVO, February 2016, Volume 34/Number 2
- Top Medicare ICD-9 DRGs 2010
- https://www.cms.gov/icd10manual/fullcode_cms/P0136.html
- Cowen Healthcare: Telehealth – Ahead of the Curve, 2015
- Ibid.
Maria Shepherd has more than 20 years of leadership experience in medical device/life-science marketing in small startups and top-tier companies. After her industry career, including her role as vice president of marketing for Oridion Medical, where she boosted the company valuation prior to its acquisition by Covidien/Medtronic, director of marketing for Philips Medical and senior management roles at Boston Scientific Corp., she founded Data Decision Group, now re-branded as Medi-Vantage. Medi-Vantage provides marketing and business strategy and innovation research for the medical device industry. The firm quantitatively and qualitatively sizes and segments opportunities, evaluates new technologies, provides marketing services and assesses prospective acquisitions. Shepherd has taught marketing and product development courses, and is a member of the Aligo Medtech Investment Committee (www.msbiv.com). She can be reached at 855-343-3100 ext. 102, or at mshepherd@medi-vantage.com. Visit her website at www.medi-vantage.com.