Survival instinct - it’s in the bones

The coronavirus pandemic has forced companies operating within the medical industry to adapt quickly. Organisations unable to do so, have fared badly. Benny Hagag, President, MicroPort Orthopaedics, talks to MPN about its survival tactics. 

Please tell a little about MicroPort Orthopedics and its focus. 

MicroPort Orthopedics is a global producer of orthopaedic hip and knee technology, with headquarters in the Greater Memphis area of the US. It is the subsidiary company of MicroPort Scientific, a global medical device company providing innovative services and products to surgeons and patients worldwide, with a focus on total orthopaedic joint care. In 2014, the parent company expanded its global portfolio by acquiring Wright Medical’s total orthopaedic joint business.

MicroPort directs its full attention on developing innovative and differentiated technologies that are customised to meet each customer’s needs, in addition to maintaining our current fundamental portfolio.

What new technologies and strategic changes have become permanent fixtures for how MicroPort Orthopedics will operate post-COVID? 

COVID-19 deeply affected the medical device industry. It hit us unexpectedly and forced many businesses to shift from a culture of working face-to-face with customers to one where the entire organisation went fully remote. Although this initially made it difficult to engage with customers, it did, however, allow us to develop creative solutions and approaches to address this challenge. We focused on developing compelling and informative video and email communications with our employees. It was important to provide critical organization detail to our team during an uncertain time. 

We quickly pivoted to develop new tactics, new sales capabilities and new management techniques. These tools hadn’t been available previously, or at least did not exist at the scale required during the pandemic. 

MicroPort Orthopedics’ ability to sustain the business throughout COVID-19’s first wave is directly attributed to our ability to maintain unity with all of our employees around the world, as well as the support received from our parent company. 

The decision by MicroPort Scientific to financially invest in our division to sustain the company and minimize impact allowed our global organisation to direct its full attention to developing necessary management and communication skills to enable our business to thrive in this adaptive environment. We monitored the situation daily, identified practical opportunities of growth, and evolved into an agile organisation where key initiatives were adopted swiftly across the entire business. Our executive leadership provided key insights, support; they even drove these initiatives. I fully expect the business to maintain a similar strategy, drive and flexibility after COVID-19.

How has COVID-19 affected manufacturers of orthopaedics? 

It was difficult for all orthopaedic manufacturers to transition and adjust business operations throughout COVID-19. Unlike many manufacturers, MicroPort had the unique advantage of receiving full support from a significant parent company throughout the period. I believe every business had to assess its capabilities and resources, as well as their strategy for future initiatives. 

Location also mattered. MicroPort is lucky to have offices in more than 80 countries, with strategies already in development to address the differences between markets. It was easier to adjust our global strategy when each office has the ability to react locally, and fine-tune based on how COVID-19 was trending in specific areas. In addition, with different timing and impact level of COVID waves around the globe, we were able to balance the impact curve and sustain relatively stable, although affected, business. 

What innovative technology has the pandemic expedited?

Since I joined MicroPort Orthopedics more than a year ago, the company has been developing a global road map initiative that focuses on capturing the larger picture. The key focus areas are who we are today, and where we need to be as a global player during the next 5–10 years, and beyond. The pandemic unexpectedly allowed us to direct greater efforts into this. You will see a greater focus towards developing our technologies that deliver an optimised experience across a range of services, for both patients and surgeons through our medical education services, as well as our services. 

There is a shift towards a more digital healthcare space. MicroPort Orthopedic is leaning into this trend by providing our surgeon customers a way to digitally connect, seek out patients who are in research mode for total joint replacement, get them into a surgeon’s office for a consultation and at that point, our additional technologies kickstart the Episode of Care for our patients. 

How have orthopaedic manufacturers made strategic changes to their operations in response to the pandemic? 

A typical orthopaedic manufacturer builds programs and products to address the masses with a “one-size fits all” solution. I believe the pandemic’s impact solidified this strategy for many, just to effectively sustain business operations. If a company did not already have the system in place that lends itself to producing customised solutions on a global scale, then the pandemic has not helped.

What is MicroPort’s Orthopedics’ Episode of Care model and what’s unique about it? 

MicroPort’s Episode of Care approach enhances operational efficiency and patient satisfaction throughout the 90 days both pre- and post-surgery. Unlike many orthopaedic companies, we provide a personalised suite of solutions to help surgeons and hospital partners find patients, keep patients and achieve effective and profitable outcomes in the Ambulatory Surgery Centers setting by focusing on what matters most: patient satisfaction and outcomes, delivering on a simple, efficient Episode of Care experience. We begin from pre-operative patient education and engagement, and we continue by providing efficiencies in the operating room, post-operative pain management, recovery monitoring, and the ability to capture the patient reported outcomes. Our approach to the Episode of Care is unique in its simple yet effective ability to drive outpatient total joint replacement success.

The future of orthopaedic manufacturing is rapidly changing. What changes can we expect to see during the next 5 years?

Many would answer that robotics is the way of the future. They’ve become significantly popular, and I expect that trend to rise. But this robotic race will only lead to increasingly higher costs for hospitals and business partners; eventually, this technology will have to evolve and change to drive cost and efficiency improvements, possibly even within the span of 5 years from now. 

That is why MicroPort chooses to instead focus efforts on prioritising new technological alternatives that will not only require significantly less investment by hospitals, but will also minimise the cost burden per case, all while delivering the same, if not better, clinical outcomes as expected from robotics. MicroPort has the strategy and foresight to look beyond the next 5–10 years. The future of medicine will continue to rapidly change as more and more companies begin to invest in discovering how they can also produce differentiated technologies that set them apart from the field.