Winning Friends

Originally Published MX July/August 2006

EDITOR'S PAGE

Those who watch the trends that are shaping the world's healthcare systems have frequently commented on the discontinuities that exist among the many elements of the U.S. healthcare marketplace. For instance, the fact that most consumers pay for their healthcare services only indirectly, through the intervention of third-party payers, is one of many factors that make it difficult to align the interests of physicians and their patients.

Such discontinuities also have consequences for medical technology executives who are seeking clinical adoption of their products. For example, medtech companies frequently market their products exclusively to clinicians and give little thought to communications directed toward the ultimate recipients of healthcare. It is true that companies in some sectors of the device industry are spending more time and money on direct-to-consumer communications than ever before, but in most medtech companies the general rule still applies.

A corollary to the physician-only approach to marketing is that most medical device companies do not maintain a large staff for advertising, marketing, or public communications, and their contracts with outside agencies tend to be much smaller than those typical for consumer-oriented pharma campaigns. And—even further down the line of consequences—this means that medtech companies don't generally have staff readily available when it comes time to trumpet a firm's major achievements.

In short, individually and collectively, members of the medical device industry have traditionally done very little to recognize or publicize their own achievements—especially among consumer audiences.

This issue of MX describes a wealth of companies, products, and individuals who are worthy of recognition. Features include our annual profiles of industry leaders and MX coverage of the 2006 Medical Design Excellence Awards. Publicly celebrating such medtech achievements can go a long way toward winning friends—and overcoming discontinuities.

Steve Halasey

Copyright ©2006 MX