Originally Published MX May/June 2004

BUSINESS PLANNING & TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

With an ever-expanding menu of services, full-service outsourcing firms are reshaping medtech's vendor community.

Steve Halasey and Courtney Harris

As cost pressures on the healthcare system have mounted over the past decade, an increasing number of medtech manufacturers of all sizes have been forced to take a long look at the cost-efficiency of their operations. And many such companies have come to the same conclusion: outsourcing is the way to go.

Meanwhile, the companies that have traditionally provided goods and services to medical device manufacturers have been anything but idle. This article looks at eight such companies that are redefining the nature of outsourcing for the medical device industry (see Table I). By offering an ever-increasing array of services, these companies have begun to distance themselves from more-traditional contract services firms. And along the way, they are also raising the competition in medtech's vendor community to new heights.

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