Mastering Medical Device

Send us Fan Mail Soft launches are an important tool when introducing any new product to the market. In this episode Pat discusses why you do a soft launch, what you are trying to learn, some key issues related to the types of customers who buy in the early phases, and setting expectations. He shares why Key Performance Indicators are important to establish up front,  best practices for conducting...

Send us Fan Mail Laura Yecies is the CEO of Bone Health Technologies and has a fascinating career arc. Laura had an extensive, and successful career working in tech in the Bay area, before crossing over into medical device. Coming up primarily from the marketing and sales track, she held positions of increasing responsibility, including becoming the CEO of several venture-backed companies, in both...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Michael Gorn is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician who was inspired to develop a medical device for treating a common ailment - an abscess. Mike is also the partner of your host, Pat Kothe! Our company is call EM Device Lab and the product Mike was inspired to invent is the Quickloop Abscess Treatment Device. In this episode Mike shares how he became interested in the pr...

Send us Fan Mail Andrew Mead is a successful orthopedic device sales rep who sells products used in the OR for Smith+Nephew. In this episode Andrew describes the intensity of the training he received and sought out, what separates the consistently good reps, a unique team approach to sales, why putting your customer's needs above yours is the only way to success and redefining what value is....

Send us Fan Mail Mike Langlois is a Supply Chain expert, working his way up from the bottom to become Senior VP of Supply Chain for two large and widely recognized Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs), Ascension Healthcare and Beaumont Health. He helped develop the strategies and tactics for the groups and introduced some truly innovative programs. In this episode Mike takes us inside the world of...

Send us Fan Mail Ted Newill is an expert in medical device sales and marketing. In this episode we examine why  some technologies are adopted while others are not - even if there is clinical proof that they should be. We explore issues impacting long-term adoption in the pre-product release, product release, and post-release phases along with how people react to change. We discuss a number of issu...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Wouter van Furth is a neurosurgeon at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands who is interested in better clinical results with the help of evolving surgical techniques and technological advancements. In this episode he shares information on the education and healthcare systems in the Netherlands, medical technology breakthroughs and challenges in neurosurgery, bre...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Morton has over thirty years of regulatory, clinical and quality experience in the medical device industry, including serving as Vice President for Corporate Regulatory Affairs at Medtronic, on the Board of Directors for the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society, and serving on FDA and other regulatory body working groups . In this episode we explore regulatory pathways fo...

Send us Fan Mail Paul Harkness has spent his career in hearing care, helping patients and providers. In this episode Paul explains the prevalence of hearing loss, why it occurs, how hearing loss actually effects patients, the newest trends in hearing care technology, how care is delivered and by whom, and what the business models are. He also shares how his company, Lantos Technologies, is providi...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Aaron Ali and Dr. John Schlitt are experts in translating world-class physician education into customer loyalty.  In this episode they discuss how to deliver educational experiences that allow clinicians to learn, practice and experiment, leading to better clinical outcomes, more efficient procedures and satisfied customers. Medical device companies benefit by getting closer t...

Send us Fan Mail Renee Rogers has managed through several large acquisitions as VP of Human Resources and VP of Leadership and Organizational Development at Zimmer Biomet, Zimmer, and Sulzer Orthopedics. In this episode we discuss the human side of an acquisition and how to handle it and thrive amongst the uncertainty and chaos. We discuss who makes the decisions, personnel choice, timing of decis...

Send us Fan Mail Doctors Grayson and Dustin Moore are practicing orthopedic surgeons, who also happen to be brothers and partners. In this episode they share their unique hybrid practice model, how they built their practice, why they choose a medical device, and what good sales reps do. They also cover how they, along with their Dad who is also a partner in their practice, rely on each other to le...

Send us Fan Mail Are you itching to join a startup? Before you do, ask yourself these ten questions to give yourself a greater probability of success - personally and professionally. In this episode Pat Kothe explains what a startup is, the risks that need to be mitigated along the way to becoming a company, and ten questions every aspiring entrepreneur needs to answer for themselves before jumpin...

Send us Fan Mail Bob Beck is one of the pioneers in national accounts and has helped shape how industry manages our most important customers. In this episode Bob describes what a national account is, how to work with group purchasing organizations, integrated health delivery networks and other strategic accounts. He also shares how to best work internally with the sales and marketing team and mana...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Eriksen has over 30 years of experience in medical device marketing, and he shares his views on what makes a successful marketing executive. Mike is currently Senior Global Marketing Manager at Smith+Nephew, a leading medical device company. In this episode we discuss issues in marketing and Mike draws from his  experiences at  RTI Surgical, KCI Medical, Encore Medical, Carbo...

Send us Fan Mail Chris Hermann is the CEO of Clean Hands – Safe Hands, a company dedicated to reducing healthcare associated infections through better hand hygiene.  In this episode Chris shares what his company is tackling, and the road they have taken from idea, to development, to clinical study to sales.  He discusses his take on the customer discovery process and what he refers to as Clinician...

Send us Fan Mail Daniel Powell is the CEO of Spark Biomedical, a startup company that developed, and as in the process of launching, a neurostimulation device to provide patients relief during opioid withdrawal. Daniel and his team have developed a solution, based on a proven technology. Daniel discusses Spark and some of the challenges they faced including product and technology, reimbursement, b...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Pat Kothe recaps five critical customer motives that emerged from the first 10 episodes of the podcast and discusses why it is important for people within medical device companies to unravel them. He also discusses some of the issues we will begin to explore in future episodes, broadening out to include interviews with industry people, and why it is important to sh...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. David Nelson is an anesthesiologist practicing in Austin, TX.  With over 30 years of experience in the field, he shares how his practice has changed with outpatient surgery and the emergence of ambulatory surgery centers, what medical devices he uses and why, what documentation really is and why it’s vital for reimbursement, and his message for people in the medical device ind...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Paul Davidson is an emergency medicine physician with over 30 years of experience, ranging from Level I trauma centers, to free-standing ER’s, to Urgent Care centers, to small town facilities with very little backup. He explains living through the challenges of the pandemic, what a typical day is like, who he works for and how that’s changed over the years, and products that h...

Send us Fan Mail Sarah Hermsdorf is a Surgical PA, specializing in neurosurgery, which encompasses surgical intervention in the brain and spine. Sarah discusses the details of her practice from the surgical suite, to hospital rounds, and in the clinic pre and post-surgery. She tells why she values good company representation in the OR, and what the best reps do to provide value to her, the physici...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Randy Kunik has a successful orthodontic practice built on high-quality results, stellar customer service, and sound business practices. But his loyalty to one medical device company has also been critical to getting him to the top of a competitive market - and keeping him there. In this episode, he explains business strategies for his practice, how he works with medical devic...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Chester Koh discusses how the challenges with pediatric device development are being overcome through the development and coordination of several ground-breaking programs. The smaller size of the pediatric market has often led to a lack of device development, but the patient needs persist. Dr. Koh explains how pediatric device development can be accelerated through a Universit...

Send us Fan Mail Nicholas Alana is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He describes what medical school is really like - the way lectures are consumed, what you do in anatomy labs, how clinical rotations work and what you learn, and details on all of the tests and applications. He also discusses his pathway to a medical career, and how his...

Send us Fan Mail Danny McIntyre is a fourth-year medical student and he describes his experience at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine's Arkansas State campus. He is also a recipient of a scholarship from the US Health Professions Scholarship Program of the US Military, and he describes the benefits and obligations of that program.  He tells how he became int...