10 Considerations for Designing a Medical Device that Meets New Economic Realities

For full whitepaper download, click here.

The US has one of the largest healthcare markets in the world, but the average hospital barely breaks even due to rising costs and shrinking revenue. Day-to-day operations are reigning in supply costs by reprocessing, renting, using generics, and streamlining purchasing in an effort to improve margins. Stricter payment regimens from federal and commercial health plans and a recessionary mindset among patients further complicates these economics creating an emerging value system never before seen.

For medical device manufacturers, the race is on to capture value. Manufacturers must deliver smart, patient-centric products. And they must prove to the new committee-based capital purchase decision makers how these products will impact/and or change the care continuum and reduce healthcare costs, illustrating how they will reduce the overall strain on the system.

We are at an intersection that can only be navigated by steering away from legacy products, towards true innovation. Products developed for today’s value system must appeal to multiple clinical users – for example, by factoring in the patients themselves and being easier to assemble, use, sterilize, and transport.

Products today must be simpler. Simplifying the use process of a product by just one or two steps can reduce training burdens and decrease likelihood of use-errors. Innovations in GUI design can bring a technological system from near irrelevance to seamless integration, allowing for meaningful functions and a lower learning curve for a range of users – improving the quality of care while saving time.

There are countless considerations that need to be applied to innovation today. Those listed above represent a fraction of the 10 Considerations illustrated in our most recent whitepaper.

To download the entire whitepaper, click here.