Vennli, a marketplace solutions company, announced the results of a recent survey, “Differentiating to Win in Medical Device Marketing.” Combining and evaluating survey results from over 9,000 healthcare professionals, the data identified key drivers
for purchasing medical devices according to physicians, dentists, and other clinicians, including the most and least important attributes, differentiating factors, points of parity (little perceived differences), and unmet needs.

“In the competitive environment of the $43B medical-device industry, leveraging the voice of the marketplace to create meaningful, differentiated messaging and offerings is an opportunity to drive growth,” says Rachel Mele, general manager of healthcare at Vennli, in a release. “Medical device manufacturers can set themselves apart by focusing and outperforming on factors that actually matter to healthcare professionals versus what the manufacturers perceive or assume are purchase drivers.”

The report finds that, while over 90% of healthcare professionals surveyed said patient outcome was important when choosing medical devices, less than 60% said brands were performing up to expectations. In order for medical device manufacturers to stay ahead of the competition, the ability to deliver on healthcare professionals’ desires is critical.

Key takeaways from the report include:

  • 94%of healthcare professionals surveyed said consistent outcomes was important to them
  • Only 62% of healthcare professionals said it was important for the medical device to be recommended by a key opinion leader
  • Flexible contract options are important to over 80% of healthcare professionals; less than 40% said brands are meeting their needs in this respect
  • Areas for differentiation include low risk, efficacy, consistent outcomes, patient outcome and if the device is from a proven or trusted brand

“Some companies are drastically underperforming on the factors that really matter to healthcare professionals,” says Mele. “These unmet needs represent unique opportunities to capture business.”

The survey gathered data from 45 Vennli studies that included responses from 9,048 healthcare professionals including physicians, dentists, and other clinicians. Respondents ranked 508 attributes allowing Vennli to identify what mattered when purchasing medical devices.