One of the questions I have got from many product managers who want to get into the medical device industry is how to onboard into the same. Here are few of my takeaways –
Understand the disease state(s)
Prior to joining any company, I try to research their website to understand the problems they are solving for. For me, it was sleep apnea and different type of respiratory ailments. I knew sleep was important but definitely didn’t know how sleep apnea affected other disease state(s) like diabetes, hypertension and so on. This sets the stage for you as a PM.
Learn how the device is used by your patients
Every medical device company is an ocean. You can work in different areas in software or hardware and so on. But if you know how your device is used by your patients then you can empathize with their pain and prioritize the right things. Understanding how your area impacts the patients will help develop an effective vision and manifest into a good product strategy.
Learn the medical device lifecycle
Since the company manufactures medical devices and then you have software for various use cases (from operations, inventory management, remote patient monitoring to supply chain etc.), you need to know where you fit in the lifecycle. You also need to understand the role of every player in the health network.
While the doctor is motivated clinically, there might diagnostic labs, interested in diagnosing new patients and so on. Start developing your network within the company by talking to your peers. Usually, you will ave to deal with medical affairs, marketing, sales, legal, privacy departments.
Note that depending on the country you are dealing with (it’s a global world! ), your software could be considered medical if your are monitoring the patient clinically. Especially guidelines are really evolving for the better since COVID. Telehealth and telemonitoring reimbursement can really improve out-of-hospital healthcare. Physicians and nurses can treat the severe patients first.
Get in touch with the end-users
At least as of 2024, many of our health organizations are short-staffed. They have antiquated processes – Many of them still use fax, paper or a time-based follow-up (i.e. they will set up an appointment 6 months later). This is regardless of country in my experience for at least sleep medicine. Mainly, this issue is because they didn’t have better options! And guess what – Human behavior is the hardest to change! (eg: If you are forced to change your diet will you do that immediately? 🙂)
So, why not start with end-users who are willing to change? This will give you input on the pressing problems and this interaction will help build a software that is likely to be used.
Final thoughts
Keep learning on all of the above because things are changing rapidly. Rome wasn’t built in a day. So, use known resources for your reading. (eg: for Sleep medicine, AASM is a great resource)
Most of us complain about healthcare but do nothing unless you are a expected contributor (eg: Dr/nurse/pharma/research/technician etc.). Digitization of healthcare can help patients to receive faster healthcare and help providers manage patients effectively!