Savvy medical device marketers have built their reputations and success focused on the “surgeon-as-customer”. Sales strategy and process have been defined on the premise that the surgeon was the only decision-maker that counts, because they define patient needs, and that drives clinical choices. This has been a relatively simple sale, managed through a rep organization focused on building relationships with surgeons, and providing them with the surgical liaison services they’ve come to expect.

Device manufacturers and surgeons are now caught up in a reform environment focused on better health outcomes at lower cost. This objective is putting tremendous pressure on all stakeholders — payers, providers, and manufacturers — to rethink their business models and challenge fundamental assumptions about their customers, their products and services, their prices, and how they go to market.