Keep in mind that the short answer to this is that…it depends. Luckily, as you read on you’ll understand the reason for this conclusion on the role of the customer in medical device marketing.
To begin with, the medical devices category is very diversified and assorted, but that’s not only from the regulatory point of view.
Part of the category of medical devices include: basic medical supplies like sutures, tongue depressors, syringes, surgical instruments, and more complex devices like implants, pacemakers. It also includes big capital equipment such as CT and robots.
For the different categories of medical devices, the number of individuals and organizations that could influence the purchase decision might possibly be significant and different.
In this article, I consider the “customer” of medical device marketing, all the stakeholders. And not only the decision-maker(s) to be involved with the product before, during, and after use.
Medical Device Customers (Stakeholders)
The concept of the customer in medical device marketing is not one to rush through in a hurry. Below I have touched on key aspects that concern the categories of medical device customers and why they need to be considered in the decision-making process.
1. The Patient: ultimately, patients are collecting information through the internet about their pathology. And they can participate in the choice of the treatment proposed.
This behavior is not always welcome by the HCP (health care provider). But even they cannot deny that it is an unstoppable trend.
For instance, a single patient can be a target for marketing communication campaigns as part of patients’ education.
Likewise, patients’ associations and patient advocacy groups could be a powerful ally for the registration or reimbursement of highly innovative medical devices.
These practices are more common in the pharma business than in medical devices and must be conducted according to the regulations.
2. HCP: This is also known as the Health Care Provider (Professional). And most of the time, they are the end-user and the most influential stakeholder.
Normally, the HCP is responsible for the outcome; therefore, they would normally care about the device used. Other HCP are nurses and OR managers; they can be more or less influential, depending on the device.
For some OR devices, e.g. medical equipment, the OR staff can be very decisive(maybe not for the purchase but the use).
A good example is when 2 different pieces of equipment are available in the OR, and one is definitively more easy to use for the staff, you can already guess which one will be used preferably.
3. Hospital Administrative Personnel: Examples are purchasing committee, executive, purchasing manager, buyer, etc – depending on the device. These subjects are becoming more influential in medical device marketing and should be considered as customers.
4. Biomedical Engineer: Biomedical engineers generally provide advice on the selection and use of medical equipment. Also, they supervise its performance testing and maintenance.
5. Central Sterile Processing Department Manager: He/she could be critical for some reusable devices, especially in a case whereby the device cannot be easily reprocessed or if it will not withstand the hospital’s reprocessing protocol.
6. Salesforce: I consider the sales force (direct or indirect) as the first customer (you can refer to my previous explanations on this).
That is mostly because one customer to the best of their ability can refer a few other customers. But in the case of a sales rep, they could bring a lot more customers.
Hence, it is critical to consider the sales force as a customer.
In fact, in my opinion, the sales force must be considered in both upstream and downstream marketing activities.
7. Payers: Healthcare insurance- public or private, this stakeholder is very different from country to country. In general, this entity sets the rules for the reimbursement of healthcare.
Trends In The Customer Environment
As influential as these stakeholders can be in medical device product selection, we should not forget that their impact can vary depending on:
- Healthcare structures in the country
- Reimbursement
- Clinical guidelines
- Product life cycle
- Typology of product or service
- Medical need
- Specialty
In general, there is a trend in the medical device market, which is the reduction of the HCP power in the decision-making process.
Gone are the days when a physician could choose whatever product without having to justify his/her choice.
In recent times, for commoditized products or products competing in a mature segment, the decision-making is shifted from physicians toward the other actors of the buying process.
Why Is It Important To Identify All The Customers?
The reason is to develop both upstream and downstream marketing strategies while considering all the possible stakeholders.
In upstream marketing for example, in developing a value proposition for the surgeon, the purchasing manager, OR manager, etc, including the user requirements, the specific needs of the sterile reprocessing technicians or the biomedical engineer, it’s necessary to perform product tests with all the stakeholders and not only the end-user.
In downstream marketing, for example, developing positioning, messages, and pricing strategy & tools for the various customers; in the purchase of capital equipment, the hospital executives and the surgeons need different evidence and tools to justify the investment.
To build customer-centric marketing, you need to know all your possible “customers”, as this is good for all those involved (customers, employees and the company).
If you operate in a competitive segment, you might be outcompeted by big companies with more money and bigger teams, but you could thrive on the values that resonate with customers.
What do you think? Did I forget some of the customers? Please let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe.
I’ll be happy to hear from you.