Q. What is MedTech (or medical technology) market research?
A. MedTech market research is focused on the needs of the medical technology industry, which includes medical devices of all types, diagnostics, medical robotics, healthcare applications, digital therapeutics, and an array of advanced technologies with a medical purpose and to improve human health. These products and services may or may not be regulated by global authorities (e.g., U.S. Food & Drug Administration/FDA or the European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME or the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency/PMDA in Japan).
Q. How is MedTech market research different from other market research?
A. For a device manufacturer or other technology company with a health-related product the needs can be quite specific. A professionally-trained and licensed respondent (e.g., physician, pharmacist, etc.) may be needed, or even in market research studies with the general public it is important to have a medical understanding of the technology’s benefits – so that scientific or technical discussions can lead to insights with utility. Whether this is for user experience (UX), hands on to software interface testing, concept testing, or a pilot project, the focus should be on determining the viability of the technology to meet the intended need.
In many ways market research projects for MedTech may be familiar to the general research professional but there are specific topics of discussion which can lead to uncovering direction for the product team, programmers and designers involved in the development of technology products.
Q. What types of projects are conducted in MedTech market research?
A. Typical types of projects in MedTech market research include:
Opportunity assessment
Needs mapping
Attitudes and usage
Concept testing
Formal user experience (UX)
Engineering design flow testing
Interface and function testing
Product journey
User segmentation (adopter types)
Forecasting/pricing
War gaming
Positioning
Message development
Ethnography/observation studies
Pilot/prototype testing
User evaluation
Feature choice exercises