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US Medtech Industry’s Response to COVID-19 and Opportunities for future

In a unique and previously unheard of partnership, Tesla will make Medtronic ventilators in a New York factory repurposed from the manufacture of solar power cells. Medtronic is trying to increase the production of ventilators critical for treating the sickest COVID-19 patients. This pairing is the result of great minds working together; in this case, those of Omar Ishrak and Elon Musk.

Midway during the war with this deadly virus, the United States realized its faulty supply chain and re-investigated. Local and  national preparedness was found to be very crucial. Research indicated China, the main supplier, kept essential PPEs for its citizens. This was an eye-opener for the US, and so they began ramping up the production of essentials to avoid dependency on other countries and support their citizens fully.

Future of Medtech Industry

 COVID-19 is far from over now. Till we 'Vaccinate the World', elective surgeries will see a huge decline by roughly 60 to 80 percent. The financial resources available to patients will largely impact the choice of elective surgeries the patients will opt for during the on-going crisis.

Post COVID-19, as and when it happens, I see that there will be a huge change in the way we do business. Access to hospitals will be more restrictive and therefore, the industry will have to be more innovative in their marketing approach. Healthcare services will resort to telemedicine: The Digitization of Healthcare. I have personally used telemedicine which saved me time and money with the same result. Remote monitoring of a patient's health will be a new normal in a not-so-distant future. So a lot of focus will be on Medtech companies in the telehealth space.

Nevertheless, patients will still have to go to hospitals for surgeries. Operation theatres, medical equipment, and consumables will be needed. The elective surgeries and delayed essential surgeries resurgence will put a strain on hospitals' resources and finances, once things open back up.

Medtech companies will have to consider strengthening crisis resilience and plan for recovery. Building and stress-testing several  scenarios for procedures and product demand will be critical for identifying areas of risk and opportunity while navigating  through the crisis. Remote working will gain traction. The infrastructure needed for the same will be acquired and policies will  be in place for effective performance during similar situations.

The planning and actions taken in the short term can have significant implications, not only for Medtech’ s continued resilience  during the crisis but in shaping its longer-term recovery for what is likely a significantly different future for healthcare and the Medtech companies.

Initiatives related to collections, reordering frequency, batch size, and payment terms will need reconsideration for cash flows. Additionally, changes to production-just-in-time, inventory pooling and rationalization, and standardization-will need to be evaluated.

Although this may be a once in a lifetime occurrence, the Medtech industry will evolve to face similar challenges in the future, keeping in mind employee safety, patient interaction with healthcare professionals, production efficiencies and national security.