Singing A New Tune: Redefining Innovation In The Medical Device World

In the world of medical devices, innovation has traditionally been defined as the invention of a new device or a new technology that can be packaged into a device, expanding the number of possible medical procedures or at least replacing old ones with those that are new, improved and lemon-scented.  For the past several decades, a parade of medical device entrepreneurs has led a drumbeat of new product development, accompanied by a chorus of venture capitalists saying, “Hey look, a new thingamajig! You’re playing my song!”

In today’s healthcare economy, those same entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are spending far more time facing the music than dancing to it.  We have reached the point where those that pay for healthcare are more than willing to turn down the volume on innovation that does anything other than reduce medical procedures and costs.  The medical device industry has felt the repercussions of this changing tune in a big way.

Last week I attended my 2nd and the Cleveland Clinic’s 10th Annual Innovation Summit and it was very interesting to see how medical device manufacturers have evolved their thinking around “innovation” to appeal to the much-changed audience to whom they are now playing.  Webster’s Dictionary defines innovation as “a new idea, method, or device,” and it was clear  in Cleveland that the nation’s largest medical device players have decided to shift their attention from the “new device” part of the definition to the “new method” part.