Keeping up with the market is hard enough without a looming global pandemic swinging it out of control. Although it is difficult to stay on top of recent trends, it is essential if you want to stay ahead of the market and your competition. Continually tracking trends, identifying who is doing well and why, along with understanding what accurate market data is can be overwhelming.
Without further adieu, let’s dive into these 3 Simple Ways of staying on top of the medical device market:
Follow Relevant News Outlets
Follow trade journals, magazines, blogs, and online publications, newsletters, that focus on your business niche, such as:
- MedDevice Online – Follow for an overview of the latest technological advances and trends in Medtech,
- MassDevice – Follow to keep track of news within the Orthopedic & Cardiology industries,
- Diagnostic & Interventional Cardiology – Follow to keep track of the Cardiovascular industry,
- MedTech Future – Follow to understand the impact of major news on the medical device market, such as the analysis of the Top Orthopedic Companies,
- Dental Tribune – Follow to keep track of the changes in the Dental Industry as they are the official media partner of the FDI World Dental Federation.
Quick TIPS: When looking through postings ensure you are keeping an eye on the dates of publication. Even something that’s only six months old to a year may be outdated, whether that’s due to COVID, new product launches, product recalls, changing standards of practice, etc.
Follow FDA Approvals & Changes In Procedures
Following the CMS.gov website can help to track reimbursement changes and follow the impacts these have within the market. This is important since when a certain procedure gains reimbursement, more physicians will be inclined to suggest it – thus boosting the number of procedures performed. If a person can get some money back from a given procedure, they are more likely to consider it as well.
Observing where the industry is headed is key when keeping on top of market, which includes keeping track of the FDA approvals. Usually, medical devices are classified into different classes which then defines the regulatory requirements for a general device type. Next, there are 3 basic processes to obtain FDA marketing approval for medical devices, depending on the nature of the device and the circumstances under which approval is sought:
- Premarket Approval (PMA) process,
- Pre-marketing notification (PMN) process/510(k) application,
- Humanitarian device exemption (HDE) process.
Following along with these approvals can help you stay on top of your competition and could indicate upcoming disruptive technologies These approvals could be much like the recent FDA approval for the reverse shoulder system.
Let Market Research Do the Work For You
Finally, if all that seems like too much, let the market research do the work for you. Market research is a critical component in any company, as it can provide you with critical market data to make confident business decisions, including:
- Market news, M&As, FDA approvals and their impact on the market,
- Changes in procedures and trends to help identify the fastest-growing areas,
- Multi-scenario analysis of the impacts of COVID19 on the market,
- BONUS: Product average selling price (ASP) data to ensure distributors are pricing products with the highest revenue gain,
- BONUS: Growth rates to make accurate market projections that help refine the company’s revenue trajectory.
When choosing a market vendor ensure you have done your research in finding a reliable source. You can use our Do-It-Right guidelines to help you determine a suitable partner.
Conclusion
With all this said on looking to the future, keep in mind you do not need to dismiss historical data. A forward-looking strategy could be to look back at 2019 historical data/trends to predict what 2021 could entail. This would stem from the assumption that (most) markets will recover in 2021 at the same level as it was in 2019.
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Overall, identifying trends, tracking FDA approvals, and understanding what market research can provide will help you identify and analyze the market needs, your customers, and your competitors.
