Research highlights technological trends in medical devices

Technological advances and regulatory pressures mean the pharmaceutical and medical device industries are changing how they approach medical education. Because of this many organisations may  struggle to secure the right staffing, investment, and delivery platforms to provide valuable education opportunities for healthcare practitioners. 

Research and consulting firm Best Practices, LLC has published a research study, ‘Professional Medical Education Excellence: Structures, Resources, Services & Performance Levels to Optimize Pharmaceutical Education Groups,’ to inform medical education leaders on current approaches to group size, service-levels, resources, and programme deployment. The study – which provides segments for both medical device and pharmaceutical companies – presents medical education leaders’ perspective on current and future trends for staffing, investment, and technology.

Technological influences will increase in the next two years in both device and pharma sectors, according to the study. However, 61% of pharma participants project increases of 10% or more, while device participants foresee an explosion with 58% anticipating more than 30% in growth. Another difference between both segments in terms of technology is the adoption of iPads/tablets into the education environment. Pharmas investing in iPads/tablets will represent, on average, 16% of their technology budget over the next two years. In contrast, iPads/tablets will represent 29% of device technology budgets in the device sector, according to respondents. One key reason for this difference is that the iPad/tablet technology is a good fit for the animations and simulations that complement device training.  

The study also informs education leaders on the presence of education in emerging markets and how education groups are allocating their budget.

This study covers a number of topics, including:

Organizational fit & geographic focus

Staffing benchmarks & program trends

Roles for key activities & program deployment

Budget benchmarks & allocation trends

Trends & directions

The research project included observations and insights from 40 leaders with 35 medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Participants included 14 medical education leaders from 10 medical device firms and 26 leaders from 25 biopharma companies.