How Medical Device Industry is Failing

In the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, “Top Health Industry Issues of 2014”, the company declared that the medical device industry is getting back on track, boosted by the Affordable Care Act, technology advances and changing consumer attitudes. However, the medical device companies are still failing in some areas of this new landscape.

According to PwC report, due to the resistance of the medical device companies to show their consumers what they are getting for their money, more than 50% of them don’t think they have enough information on prices when buying medical devices.

Another indicator of PwC report is that less than 15% of the medical technology executives admit their company formally manages innovation. This demonstrates that the medical technology companies should be more concerned in managing their resources and investing in innovation.

The last indicator of “Top Health Industry Issues of 2014” which shows how medical device companies are failing is the waste of patient data. Few companies integrate patient data captured via apps into clinician workflows, electronic health reports and their R&D systems to drive innovation.

References:http://www.mddionline.com/article/3-ways-medtech-industry-failing

Regulations, 3D Printing and IT in Medtech Sector: trends for 2014

      Since the year is just beginning, it is time to make some predictions of hot trends for 2014. One of the most important fact that the medical device sector should pay attention to is the regulatory system in Europe. Some changes proposed by the current EU-Council could impact the industry severely. The next step is to find a compromise that works for all the member states and that should probably happen before European elections in May.

   3D Printing will continue to impress in 2014. Some patents of the technology will expire in February, leading to more competition and lower prices. For the next five years, it is expected to drop 60% of 3D metal printing costs.

     Finally, one cannot forget the influence of information technology in the medical device sector. After the announcement of Calico by Google and researches that are currently taking place by IBM in cooperation with National Cancer Institute of Milan or the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, digital healthcare is a key trend for this year. With sensors becoming cheaper and more powerful, one will be able to obtain more precise health related data.

References: http://www.emdt.co.uk/daily-buzz/regulation-3-d-printing-digitalisation-%E2%80%93-what-will-be-important-2014-0