Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) CEO Omar Ishrak said low reimbursement rates and a lack of understanding of the technology have hampered the uptake of renal denervation for high blood pressure in Europe.
"You’ve got something that really works and it doesn’t have side effects, and en masse, the experts are truly excited about this," Ishrak told Reuters this week. "Part of the issue is that it is such a new technology that it is not a conventional plug into the healthcare system. We don’t have reach and access to the general practitioners."
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The "game changer" device is still 2-3 years from winning U.S. approval, Ishrak said, according to the wire service.
Medtronic is running studies to demonstrate the economic and clinical value of the technology, the CEO told Reuters.
"This care pathway for managing the patient is still being created," he said. "The fundamental value is there. It’s a matter of getting different administrators to decide how it fits."
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