Episode 58 – In the C-Suite with Jeff Levine, CEO, Advanced Scanners

“If you point me at a target, I’ll get there’’ says Jeff.  That includes succeeding at his first job in the life sciences as CEO of the startup, Advanced Scanners. This is a very interesting interview about a revolutionary technology and a leader with a “different” yet meaningful career.  Unlike most of us, until he took this role, Jeff had no experience in MedTech.  The Advanced Scanners technology will prove itself as essential in neurosurgery. Do you know what “anatomic shift” is and the difference it means in neurosurgery?  You will soon. Then, it will spread its wings into numerous other specialties that need its capabilities.  This is a great business story and personal story that shares numerous lessons all of us can learn from.  18 months to launch!

Jeff is a member of the MedTech Leaders Community.  MTL is a place where MedTech professionals can help each other with best practices, questions, problems, solutions and successes all with the support of events featuring subject matter experts.  To learn more go to medtechleaders.net.  The Get Involved Plan is an investment of only $14 per year. There is a free trial.

Now Go Win Your Week!

Jeff Levine’s LinkedIn Profile Link

Advanced Scanners website link

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page

Episode 57 – MedScout – Helping Your Sales Team Prospect and Sell, A Revenue Intelligence Platform

You all know that data, properly configured can help your sales team.  However, this data can be very expensive and may not be configured in a way that is easy for your sales team to use.  Enter MedScout, a revenue intelligence platform for Life Science companies.  Skylar Talley, CEO, MedScout joins us today to share how they go about pulling together and presenting procedural data, prescription data and firmographic information and then present it in a unique way to help medtech sales teams be more productive.  This is all done very economically when compared to some of the very expensive data companies.  What Skylar, his co-founder, Casey Shattuck and the rest of the MedScout team is doing is impressive.  Some people may say, “Ted, you can get some of this data yourself.” Keyword is ‘some’.  And, you won’t have the firmographics to relate it all together in an easy to use platform.  If you are asking your sales team to do this, I guarantee they are missing important prospects and wasting valuable time.

Important note – Don’t confuse Skylar’s company with the German medical tourism company also called Medscout.  Skylar’s MedScout can be found at medscout.io.

As podcasts go, the Medical Device Success podcast is a bit unusual in that it is almost always set up as a live event for members of the MedTech Leaders Community to attend if they want to.  Today, you will hear me refer to questions from one such attendee, Lisa Bichsel, CEO of the Bichsel Medical Marketing Group.  BMMG is a terrific Life Sciences marketing firm. She is a member of the MedTech Leaders Community.  And, she asks great questions which adds a lot to the depth of the podcast.  Thank you Lisa.

For those of you interested in the MedTech Leaders Community, go to medtechleaders.net to learn more.  The Get Involved plan is only $14 per year and there is a free trial.

Now Go Win Your Week!

Skylar Talley’s LinkedIn profile link

MedScout website link

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page

Episode 56 – The Influence of Population Health on MedTech with Joseph Schulman, Senior VP Population Health and Business Transformation

First, we define Population Health.  Then we talk about its influence on MedTech.  In the USA, Population Health is NOT the same thing as Public Health.  One can influence the other.  However, Population Health is driven by value-based health systems to provide better care at a lower cost by being connected, engaged and anticipatory via their facilities and providers to their patients.  Joseph Schulman, Senior VP Population Health, Business Transformation at Northwell Health joins us to discuss this area of health care that is so important to understand.  The movement toward Population Health and value-based healthcare has big ramifications for the development of medical technologies.  Is Population Health a serious endeavor?  Well, Northwell thinks it is important enough to have 400 professionals on Joe’s team to drive these initiatives.

I have always been pessimistic about the US healthcare system.  After talking to Joe for this podcast and Mark Dixon several weeks ago, I have hope.  Why? Because people like Joe and Mark are moving healthcare in the right direction. And, they are very very determined to succeed.  As Joe said, “We have to raise the bar on how we’re doing and pursue all the tremendous opportunities to deliver incredible results.” Yes, he is dedicated and determined.

For international listeners, I would be curious to hear if their healthcare systems are taking a similar approach.
Now Go Win Your Week!
Joseph Schulman’s LinkedIn Profile link 

Northwell Health Website link 

Book Joe recommends:

Team of Teams, New Rules of Engagement in a Complex World, by General S. McChrsytal, D. Silverman, C. Fussell and T. Collins.

Link to Kindle (ebook), hardcover and paperback

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page

Episode 55 – Driving Sales with Physician Micro-Marketing in MedTech

Do you know which digital platform is most effective in targeting physicians?  Is it LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok?  In a few minutes, you will know the answer.  The pandemic caused a tremendous amount of rethinking about how MedTech gains the interest and attention of prospects.  Physician micro-marketing is a solution. Our guest to help us with this fascinating and surprising subject is Scott Alexander, CEO of Jairus Physician Micro-Marketing.  Scott also shares a case study of where micro-marketing and micro targeting helps a company ramp initial sales and pivot to a what they thought was a secondary market that turns out to be their primary market.  All this done rapidly and economically when compared to traditional marketing and sales tactics.

A comment on the pandemic. With the Delta variant reigning supreme in many countries and the Lambda variant gaining ground in South America, be very careful of how you view your marketing and sales activities in other countries and in certain regions of the US.  These variants have governments and hospital systems very nervous.  One of the members of the MedTech Leaders community, a CEO of a firm in South Africa told me that they were busy gaining momentum several months ago only to have a new surge shut their sales efforts down.

Speaking of the MedTech Leaders community, we now have a new entry level member program called the Get Involved plan.  It is only $14 per year and includes a free trial.  Learn more at medtechleaders.net.  If you are a leader or aspire to be a leader in MedTech, you will enjoy the community.
Now Go Win Your Week!
Scott Alexander LinkedIn Link

Jairus Physician Micro-Marketing website link

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link 

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page

Episode 54 – The Impact of Health Research and Economics on MedTech Market Access and Success with April Zambelli-Weiner, PhD

“Failure to plan for market access early is one of the key causes of company underperformance and failure”, according to April whose team at TTi Health Research & Economics has helped companies recover from their lack of preparedness. A couple episodes ago I talked about the danger of the chasm in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle.  In this episode, April reveals the possibility of two additional “chasms” that MedTech has to deal with.  The reimbursement/payor chasm which is more complex than many experienced MedTech leaders believe.  And the chasm between regulatory approval and market access when the evidence required in these two areas don’t align. “Evidence is your flywheel” says April. The right evidence powers you through your regulatory process and aligns that process and your claims with your value propositions across stakeholders and then on through your product launch.

If you don’t mind, I am going to be my own sponsor today.  Some of you know that I am also the host of the MedTech Leaders Community.  Some of you are already members. This is where MedTech professionals mingle to share best practices, problems, ideas and successes all with the support of subject matter experts.  I have created a new entry level program called the Get Involved plan which is only $14.00 per year at the moment.  There is a two-week free trial.  Go to medtechleaders.net to learn more.  You won’t regret it.

April Zambelli-Weiner, PhD LinkedIn Profile link

TTi Health Research & Economics Website link

TTi Health Research & Economics Market Readiness Assessment link

Books April recommends:

Dare to Prepare: How to Win Before You Begin, by Ronald M. Shapiro, Gregory Jordan, et al.

Kindle and paperback link

The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds, by Michael Lewis

Kindle and paperback link

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page

Episode 53 – The MedTech Sales Process for Success

Where does the MedTech Sales process get in trouble?  It is in the Presentation step of the process.  On the surface the Presentation step sounds simple.  It is not.  With new concept technologies or complex technologies this step can get complicated with multiple sub-steps.  That is why it is important to spend time working this out as a team.  If you are a sales professional at a company that is not providing process guidance, you can actually do it yourself.  It should result in increased sales and commissions.

A number of you have contacted me over the past few weeks with questions and comments.  I have enjoyed the conversations and the emails.  Don’t be shy. The door to my office is always open.

Now Go Win Your Week!

Ted Newill’s LinkedIn Profile link

Medical Device Success website link

MedTech Leaders Community link

Link to Ted’s contact page