Medtech execs ‘rethink’ long-term strategies as care settings shift: Accenture report

Dive Brief:

More than 75% of surveyed medtech executives expect expanding care settings and delivery models to “significantly re-orient their company’s long-term strategy.”
The Accenture global poll of 150 senior medtech executives found that the move from hospitals to ambulatory and at-home care will require medical device companies to “completely rethink their business approach.”
In response, many firms are “simply identifying and re-labeling team members” to create digital health teams. Accenture suggests the industry will be better served by “upskilling and reskilling existing” staff while blending and incubating external talent.

Dive Insight:

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated shifts that were already underway in the industry, notably moves from in-person to virtual interactions and from hospital to ambulatory care centers. According to Accenture’s report, which is based on the survey and interviews with 30 digital health senior executives and C-suite leaders, the shift in where care happens is only just beginning.

“We estimate that 80% to 90% of chronic and behavioral care can shift to virtual. It means that providers are able to work to the full extent of their medical training, rather than burning time on more menial tasks,” an unidentified executive at AdvaMed’s Digital Health Center of Excellence said in the report.

The surveyed and interviewed executives expect to transform their businesses in response to the shifts in how care is delivered. While traditional products still account for most sales, the executives see the expansion of care to new settings as part of their growth strategies. Accenture cited the use of diagnostic tests at physician’s offices or at home, rather than at large hospital labs, as an example of the changes.

Other parts of the survey cover the emergence of the “consumer patient,” the rise of digital, the convergence of different sectors and emergence of new regulatory pathways. Most (86%) of respondents said future success will depend on companies targeting the entire care pathway rather than specific products and services.