Study: Affordable Care Act's focus on outcomes provides opportunity for medtech to act as hospital partner, not just supplier
-- Medtech must overcome hospital executives' skepticism and work with them in new ways to improve patient outcomes, ZS finds --
EVANSTON, Ill., April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Affordable Care Act alters the health care landscape, hospitals now believe that their most important strategy to reduce costs is maximizing performance against government risk-based payment and quality metrics, according to a new study from global sales and marketing firm ZS. As a result, medtech companies now have the opportunity to grow beyond their traditional supplier role and become partners with hospitals, finding new and creative ways to help hospitals improve patient outcomes.
For the 2016 Hospital Leadership Study, ZS surveyed 85 U.S.-based hospital executives, including C-suite executives and departmental leaders across service lines, and found that respondents ranked cost reduction as their top priority. Further, they indicated that performing well against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) risk-based payment and quality metrics is the dominant way in which they hope to rein in costs. Respondents ranked performance against CMS metrics over 50 percent more important than efforts to control the cost of medical products.
"In the past, hospitals have looked to control costs by actively attacking product cost," said ZS Principal Brian Chapman, leader of the firm's medtech consulting practice. "However, reimbursement changes have increasingly tied clinical outcomes to hospitals' bottom line. For medtech, this is great news. It is no longer a zero-sum game where medtech has to lose on price for hospitals to win. Forward-thinking companies are going beyond the traditional arsenal of products, reps and price to help hospitals improve patient outcomes and performance on quality metrics. This can help them to become hospitals' No. 1 ally."
Hospitals skeptical about partnerships with medtech
It is critical that medtech adapt to the new health care marketplace, but many hospital executives remain skeptical that medical device makers can help them improve on quality measures and clinical results, the ZS study shows.
While a majority of hospital departmental stakeholders believe that they can partner with medtech companies to utilize innovative medical technology as well as cutting-edge procedures and treatment methodology, only about one-third of departmental stakeholders believe that medtech can help boost performance on quality measures.
"Medtech companies must prepare for a strategic transformation to better align with hospitals' evolving needs," Chapman said. "Companies that take the bold steps necessary to reshape their portfolios, value propositions and go-to-market strategies will find new ways to effectively work with hospital stakeholders. Moving beyond the role of product supplier to outcome-oriented partner will pay long-term dividends for all involved."
For more information about the 2016 Hospital Leadership Study, download an infographic and a copy of the findings.
About ZS
ZS is the world's largest firm focused exclusively on helping companies improve overall performance and grow revenue and market share, through end-to-end sales and marketing solutions--from customer insights and strategy to analytics, operations and technology. More than 4,500 ZS professionals in 22 offices worldwide draw on deep industry and domain expertise to deliver impact for clients across multiple industries. To learn more, visit www.zsassociates.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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SOURCE ZS
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