Abstract
Customer Relationship Strategies in Medical Device Industry - Role of CRM and Knowledge Management
"Customer Relationship Strategies in Medical Device Industry - Role of CRM and
Knowledge Management" will be of particular value to business development,
marketing and top-line corporate personnel in the medical device industry who
are seeking to gain competitive advantage through enhanced knowledge and
relationship strategies. This Strategy Review describes how medical device
companies are using these strategies to better:
- identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities
- identify partnership and collaborative agreements for new product
development
- identify creation of profit from interaction with key opinion leaders and
influencers
- realise increased collaboration with distributors to promote channel
efficiencies
- create more highly trained, motivated and pro-active sales forces
- apply customer segmentation strategies to positively impact the bottom
line and
- manage employee knowledge to drive innovation
Executive Summary
Healthcare Providers & Medical Technology The healthcare finance crisis
globally has important ramifications for medical technology companies. In each
member state of the European Union, health services are beginning to
commission studies to explore the cost effectiveness of healthcare products.
This means that the manufacturer needs to demonstrate a product's safety and
clinical efficacy through health technology assessments (HTA) and demonstrate
a product's cost-effectiveness within this process. Similarly, product
selection - previously the responsibility of clinicians - is becoming the
responsibility of administrative personnel who manage hospital purchasing
agreements, and who tend to ignore features and benefits in favour of securing
lower prices or meeting practice guidelines and protocols. As a result,
manufacturers are expected to broaden their marketing style from an emphasis
on the clinical features and benefits of products to the fulfilment of the
organisational needs of national healthcare delivery systems. Finally, as
private expenditures increasingly make up the difference between the need for
high-technology products and reductions in healthcare spending, manufacturers
will need to market affordable products to both the public and private sectors.
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