Marketing Innovation: Prescribing Innovations: A Practical Framework for Effective Marketing of Medical Device Innovations

Abstract

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) will become in the future a fact of life for the medical device industry. The authors propose the clinical marketing framework as a strategic tool to optimise product introduction, adoption, life cycle management and business development of medical device innovations. Clinical evidence is increasingly important for the healthcare-related decision making and for the commercial success of medical device innovations. The central aspect of the clinical marketing framework is to use the principles of EBM to develop and drive the clinical marketing strategy. The systematic implementation of the proposed framework starts with a clear definition of the target indication and the potential target user group for the medical device innovation. The next step is to identify the product claims, analyse the scientific evidence supporting them and to define a target evidence level. The evidence gap analysis compares the required evidence level and the available evidence level. The results of the evidence gap analysis, the definition of the required product benefits and the target indication are the most important input for the clinical marketing programme. The key objective of this framework is to support customer adoption and market penetration of the medical device.