MedTech Companies Require Differentiation as Clients Focus on Costs

Price is becoming the main thing healthcare buyers look at when purchasing medtech products, according to a survey by EY Global. Buyers in the U.S. Germany, Spain and the UK, 162 in total, said that the cost of items was often the overriding consideration in recent years, over brand, quality and design. Glenn Giovannetti, EY’s Global Life Sciences, as reported by PRNewswire said, “As purchasing decisions become increasingly centralized and influence shifts from physicians to hospital administrators and managers, the historical value drivers for purchasing a device–brand, quality and design–will lessen, leaving price as a main consideration. To achieve meaningful differentiation in their offerings, firms will need to design and market their products in ways that demonstrably improve patient outcomes while also lowering costs.”

The threat will be increasing commoditization of the medtech industry, as 77% of respondents in the poll identified price as the main factor in purchasing and technology decisions. However, many of these buyers believe that cost-cutting measures are short-term and envision that, down the road, price will not be the most important criterion. However, physicians are expected to have less crucial roles in these decisions. When asked the three most important factors in medical device purchasing decisions, 55% said physicians, but only 27% expected physicians to be as crucial in deciding on which medtech products to buy.