Originally Published MX September/October
2002

TOPSPIN

Diversification
as a Recovery and Growth Strategy

Advance preparation can mitigate an unexpected blow and enable
executives to lead their companies back to success.

Karen Gilles Larson

On the road to success,
today's medical device companies are well aware of the risks involved with third-party
payers. As the single largest payer for healthcare procedures and supplies, Medicare
has significant influence over payment trends in both the public and private sectors.
Obtaining—or failing to obtain—Medicare coverage approval from the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) often means the difference between success
and failure for small device companies.

Karen Gilles Larson is president and CEO of Synovis Life Technologies (St. Paul, MN).

Through its regional
intermediaries, CMS annually issues hundreds of local coverage decisions on
whether or not Medicare will pay for certain medical procedures or devices in
a specific region of the country. On rare occasions, CMS has issued national
noncoverage decisions. Because of the national scope of these negative decisions,
their impact can be momentous and far-reaching for all those affected.

For our medical