For those of us who live and breathe healthcare and medtech, the market’s move toward comparative effectiveness is really no surprise. Its drivers abound.
There’s the exceedingly slow global economic recovery and an ever-aging, longer-living patient population. The Patient Portable and Affordable Care Act has the U.S. healthcare market in fundamental transition, with purchase decision-making becoming less about physician preference and more about the C-suite’s bottom line.
Furthermore, in Europe, public health systems continue to struggle as austerity measures put downward pressure on healthcare spending. At the same time, Health Technology Assessment policies are putting greater emphasis on clinical effectiveness while, in some countries, diagnosis related groups (DRGs) are causing physicians to reassess technologies in light of overall treatment decisions.
Emerging markets offer new opportunities, but cost sensitivity is high.
Add to that an increasingly empowered patient population that, on the one hand, may be willing to pay out of pocket for premium medical technology, and, on the other hand, has the Internet at its fingertips for cost and value comparison.
Based on this dynamic, what are the implications for your brand and its story?
If the new rule of patent strategy is “file early, file often,” the new rule of medtech storytelling is to bake comparative effectiveness into your brand from the very beginning – from product concept and development to pre-market and post-market clinical studies.
As one of our favorite clients likes to say, “Tastes great, less filling!” does not cut it in medtech. Product iterations have their place, but they are not the driver of real advances in patient care and movement in the market.
Comparative effectiveness is indeed the name of the game, globally – it’s fundamental for gaining reimbursement and market adoption as well as developing brand preference and loyalty.
Here are just some of the questions we ask when crafting the story around a medtech brand:
- Does it really advance current therapeutic practice, or is it simply a new, substantially equivalent option to an existing device?
- Does it have the potential to positively transform standard of care?
- Does it make a meaningful difference in patient outcomes?
- Does it reduce hospital length of stay and/or readmissions?
- Does it help reduce the incidence of complications and Never Events?
- Does it create efficiencies in healthcare delivery?
- Does it help clinicians serve more patients?
- Does it shorten recovery time?
- And above all, do you have the data to prove it?
We have found that today’s medtech innovators are more than up to the challenge of developing and delivering new devices that meet these increasingly important standards. Often, any pushback to a new medical technology is less about the nature of the advancement and more about ensuring that these building blocks are baked into the product strategy from the very start.
How does your brand stack up?
Laura Nobles is a marketing and public relations expert with deep knowledge and an extensive track record of success in the medtech sector. She is a trusted C-suite advisor who offers clients strategic thinking and communication programming designed to drive market adoption, sales growth and, when appropriate, successful exit strategies. Laura can be reached at laura@noblesgc.com.
