The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact – both positive and negative – on MedTech customers as well as the MedTech industry itself. Similar to how almost all industries have had to adapt to new ways of connecting and conducting business, MedTech manufacturers have changed how they interact with their customers, as well as how their strategies can
Our representatives from the MedTech industry, hospital administrations and medical experts discuss how COVID-19 has impacted interactions between MedTech companies and hospitals in Europe, as well as resulting challenges and opportunities.
Panel
Mohammad Alkaysi, Senior Commercial Excellence & Analytics, Medtronic
Prof. Dr. Andreas Baumbach, Professor for Device Innovation, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel Calleja Hernández, Chief of Pharmacy Department, Virgen Macarena University Hospital
Moderators
Lorenzo T. D’Angelo, PhD, MedTech Global Team, CRA’s Life Sciences Practice
Myriam Mirza, PhD, MedTech Global Team, CRA’s Life Sciences Practice
For more information on this event, click here.
Short Video Summary
As COVID-19 rampaged through the healthcare system, MedTech manufacturers and hospitals had to adopt different ways of communicating and interacting, impacting all aspects of the MedTech-Hospital relationship, including supply-ordering, staff training on new devices or software, and how sales reps support hospital staff. As COVID-19 restrictions become laxer, what does the future of these interactions look like? This was the theme of CRA’s roundtable on October 6, featuring a great line up of panelists representing different pieces of the MedTech-Healthcare relationship.
After an abrupt stop in all interactions, some MedTech manufactures took the opportunity to realign their strategies and their digital presence in hospitals by creating new platforms to facilitate customer service, education and conferences, as well as provide hospitals with new ways of working with sales reps. Nonetheless, these digital efficiencies do not fully replace the personal connections created in presential settings. Hospital and MedTech companies are now focused on re-building their relationships and finding the right combination of face-to-face and digital interactions, as well as working together on leveraging innovative tools such as telepresence and augmented reality. As MedTech manufacturers react to hospitals transitioning into the ‘new normal’, we will watch with great interest how the future of interactions between these stakeholders unfolds.
