1.What Patient-Inspired Innovation Means

Todd Dunn, innovation director for Intermountain Healthcare, said during a conference panel that his organization created a new initiative to put empathy at the forefront of innovation. He said Proctor & Gamble’s “immersion research,” where executives spend time in people’s homes to understand what matters to them, inspired him to approach innovation differently.

“I realized we were doing the wrong thing in healthcare,” he said. “We weren’t focusing in the context of where people live, work, learn, pray, and play.” To change that, he helped create and now leads Design for People,which uses empathy as a tool to put people, not systems, at the center of design. Its team currently uses direct observation to assess endoscopy, allergy-immunology, and integrated care management programs.

Eric Stone, CEO and cofounder of Velano Vascular  which develops needle-free blood draw devices, agreed, noting that our healthcare system has historically treated problems rather than patients. “Many times the structure and process that leads to quality and safety dampens the reality of what the patient feels and experiences,” he said. “It’s the approach to treating the whole person and not just the disease that’s essential.”

2.Patient-Inspired Medtech in Action 

Medical devices largely haven’t delivered the outcomes hoped for, Dunn said. Now, as healthcare organizations shift to value-based reimbursement, device manufacturers must prove their products improve safety, quality, and outcomes.

“We need to measure whether we improve operational efficiency, and whether we ease the burden or improve the wellbeing of the person using that technology,” said Bridget Duffy, MD, chief medical officer of Vocera Communications.

One way to improve wellbeing, and outcome, is by increasing patient engagement. New and established companies alike think “beyond the device,” enhancing products with connectivity and offering features that benefit patients before, during, and after surgery.

St. Jude Medical recently introduced CardioMEMS™ HF, the first FDA-approved heart failure monitoring system. CardioMEMS uses a wireless sensor implanted in the pulmonary artery. The device uploads blood pressure readings, providing early warnings of heart failure. The system promises a 33% reduction in heart failure admissions, as well as an improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life.

In April 2016, Stryker launched JointCOACH,a digital patient engagement and education platform to help patients undergoing joint replacement surgery. JointCOACH is part of Stryker’s Performance Solutions,a program that partners with hospitals, physicians and payors to improve results.

Stryker isn’t the only major company to offer comprehensive solutions. According to the PwC report, five out of the top 10 medical device companies offer customized solutions independent of their product offerings, and seven have undergone organizational changes reflecting a shift toward service-based offerings.

3.Patient-Inspired Challenges

For all the benefits of taking a holistic approach, medtech faces no less challenge to get there. Duffy cited speed to adoption as an ongoing barrier. “We have so many antiquated and broken systems, in part because we’ve focused on the wrong thing,” she said. “We need to listen to the patients, doctors, nurses, and frontline staff and co-create design together.”

Stone mentioned finding an ear willing to listen, with time to listen, as a hurdle when forming Velano Vascular.Lack of investment dollars also posed a challenge to development.

“We’re looking to hospitals as investors, as well as high net worth individuals,” he said. “Traditional VCs hesitate to invest because the runway for return is far longer and the actual returns appear to be smaller.”

4.What Now?

Rather than look at patient-inspired innovation as a problem or an expensive change, medtech can see the shift as an opportunity to help people live healthier lives, which is really the only justification needed. “One opportunity we have as technology providers is to map the gaps in the human experience, from pre-arrival to post-discharge,” said Duffy. “We can then find digital health solutions that restore those pieces to healthcare.”

From:MDDI Online