Medical devices

Innovative medical devices and procedures can considerably improve diagnostics and shorten therapeutic cycles. They are essential for people's health and quality of life, and the industry that provides them plays a significant role in the economy.

However, new treatment methods and innovative products are not easy to position in the market, as health insurers are becoming increasingly reluctant to pay for them.

Fierce competition, new customer needs, legal reforms – the framework in the healthcare market is constantly changing.

Our Pharma & Healthcare Competence Center supports all players in seizing opportunities and mastering their challenges:

• Health insurance (English/German)

• Inpatient care (English/German)

• New healthcare industries (English/German)

• Pharmaceuticals

• Medical devices

Besides the traditional consulting areas such as marketing, organization, cost cutting or M&A, we also provide input from our intensive analysis of current market trends and developments.

Innovation in a dynamic market

The changes in healthcare are characterized by four tendencies:

• Market growth and new customer needs
  
  Traditional healthcare is growing by 2-3% annually in the Western world. The privately funded "secondary healthcare market" is growing much faster. This is due to increasing healthcare needs that cannot be satisfied by existing offers.
• Constantly changing framework
  
  Demographic developments and cost increases mean healthcare is subject to constant reforms. The market players must be able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.
• Converging submarkets and changing roles of market players
  
  The healthcare market is becoming more and more integrated. The boundaries between statutory and private health insurance are becoming blurred; payors and providers are coming together in integrated healthcare provision and e-health; and the industry and health insurance companies are developing joint business models.
• The pace of innovation
  
  Traditional healthcare products such as pharma, medical devices and biotechnology are converging in many areas, thereby offering completely new treatment options. The privately funded healthcare market is constantly coming up with new ideas and products: MP3 players are suddenly communicating with sneakers (cooperation of Apple with Nike), supermarkets are offering medical treatment (WalMart in the US), women's magazines are developing joint product lines with frozen food manufacturers.

Numerous and diverse projects mean we know all player types and take an integrated approach to viewing the healthcare market. Where appropriate, we bring the players together to collaborate and give them a competitive edge.

Our state-of-the-art projects in strategic realignment, profit boosting/cost cutting, marketing/sales, organization or M&A help make the healthcare market more innovative.

Strategies to stand out from the competition

Medical devices and supply companies are under enormous pressure to fulfill requirements dictated by current market trends. Against this backdrop, international standardization of products and prices, entry into emerging markets, product bundling and integrated treatment solutions are gaining in importance. Providers wishing to stand out from the competition need creative strategies, quality marketing, targeted branding and customized service. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants shows you how.

We partner with our clients to develop and implement best-in-class operating models that help them outperform the market in the following areas:

• Commercial excellence
• R&D excellence
• Operations excellence
• Management and organizational excellence
• Business development and partnering excellence

Marketing and sales strategy to boost sales by penetrating new customer segments

In 2006, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants assisted a major international medical devices company in developing a new marketing and sales strategy. The goal of the strategy was to boost sales by penetrating new customer segments. Building on a detailed analysis of customer needs and motivation, we defined several customer segments in the non-commodity medical equipment sector. We were then able to identify individual market sizes, customer motivators, hurdles and price-response curves for each market segment.

We also analyzed current penetration into the customer segments, for both the US and European markets. The analysis was based on our proven RB Profiler methodology as well as on conjoint measurement and Van-Westendorp pricing calculation models. Furthermore, the sales funnel for exclusive and non-exclusive distributors was analyzed for each individual segment. As a result, previously under-tapped segments could be identified and addressed with a specific marketing, CRM and pricing approach to ensure continued sales growth for our client.

Defining a business unit strategy for a leading medical devices company

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants was asked by a leading medical devices manufacturer to examine the opportunities produced by further penetrating the oncology market. A further goal was to identify and implement a lead technology for cancer treatment.

We first defined principles and opportunities for further developing the oncology business unit by using its proven four-way approach to therapeutic area analysis (epidemiology, treatment pathways, market players, customers). We also mapped out all the existing products and technologies used in cancer treatment. This was followed by detailed mapping of the client's product pipeline and matching with strategic criteria. Finally, based on the client's product pipeline and licensing and acquisition opportunities, we prioritized the future technological positioning and defined the "Portfolio 2020".