Note from the Editor

Penny wise, pound foolish . . . I’ve always enjoyed the stark simplicity of that expression, which encapsulates an enduring truth. How this myopic mindset engenders an innovation paradox in the medical technology arena—and what industry can do to correct course—is at the core of a research brief from the European Health Technology Institute for Socio-Economic Research (EHTI; www.ehti.info). EHTI persuasively makes the case that healthcare procurement policies that are focused on cutting short-term costs are hindering the development of advanced technologies that offer the best hope of improving systemic efficiency.

The four-page document summarises what research literature has determined about the uptake of new medical technology. Based on these findings, EHTI poses five questions and articulates a course of action for industry, as follows.

Does the innovation offer incremental or radical value? The distinction is important, because breakthrough innovations invite scrutiny and require a thorough understanding of the adoption process.

Will adoption occur through diffusion—the conventional Key Opinion Leader model—or the emerging Communities of Practice model? The latter is better adapted to radical innovation.

What about barriers? There are 20-plus barriers to change in healthcare systems. Companies should identify the most significant ones before product launch and form strategies to counter them.

Should you adapt to health technology assessments (HTAs)? They can be a thorn in the side of medtech companies because they often mimic pharmaceutical processes. Medtech stakeholders need to engage with HTA bodies, writes EHTI, and offer constructive criticism of the methodology.

The final and least compelling point, in my opinion, asks what you should you do if product acceptance stalls and does not lead to a sustainable change in practice? EHTI suggests evaluating the sustainability of the device, which is the sum of “numerous interacting factors,” and exploiting any new opportunities that reveal themselves. That’s good advice, I guess. But you might just have a dud product on your hands, and the best thing to do is to learn from the experience and move on. This is known as the W.C. Fields principle: If at once you don’t succeed, try again. Then quit. No sense in making a damn fool of yourself. That's an enduring truth, as well.

Norbert Sparrow
norbert.sparrow@ubm.com