Data strategist Yannik Messerli on a new horizon in the MedTech industry and the development of a data platform designed for medical device manufactures. A landmark moment in MedTech, this platform will bring together a wide range of data currently available in the medical devices market and allow manufactures to view and analyse it in relation to their own company data. Users will be able to find fresh opportunities, new avenues of research and ways of improving their product portfolio.
I was first introduced to the MedTech industry a year ago, and whilst the environment was completely unknown to me, I quickly saw how many assumptions I had about how this industry is run and the way that it operates. In that respect, the past year has certainly brought me a few surprises and, at the same time, opened my eyes to an entirely new field of possibilities.
Previously, I believed the medical devices market was highly regulated—that there were strict laws about what could be placed on the market and strict procedures around how that could be done. On the surface, that is still correct. There are regulatory requirements, Competent Authorities (CA) and Notified Bodies in place to standardise procedures, certify products, monitor devices, perform quality checks and protect patient safety. That process generates a huge amount of data—and here was my first surprise.
As an engineer, I am familiar with a world where norms, rules and standardised procedures apply. Six months into working in the MedTech industry, I realised that this sector was far more flexible than I could have imagined.
The data that was being generated was not created or collected in a uniform way. For what was available—which was already very limited—the rules and regulations around it depended on the country, political situation and approach by the manufacturers.
There were gaps in the information, variations, errors, and when software was being used, rather than the more widely used paper-based systems, it was often restrictive and out of date. As an outsider, I saw this digital and data space as completely chaotic—yet, that is what also made it so exciting.
The MedTech digital space is virtually untouched (and certainly not at the cutting-edge of technological science as you might expect). Using a combination of data from pre-existing public databases for medical devices and information shared with us by our clients, I could see a huge range of data sets emerging and material to be processed.
In that fresh space, there were suddenly numerous tools that could be created and paths that could be taken. All of these could make the market more transparent, drive greater innovation and increase device performance and safety.
Whilst the requirements of this industry may still be unclear to me, Jasminka Roth, our Director and the founder of The Tao of Excellence, was clearly excited. She could see years of manual and complex procedure—which often leads to poor quality results—giving way to a new agility and speed made possible by software development.
Our first project was to address how we could extract relevant and complex information from the MedTech data available, and share it through a series of interesting, assessible, technical and interactive data visuals.
The standard procedure for this was to use an Excel spreadsheet and convert the information into bar charts or graphs. These data visuals that were not only time-consuming, but also actively uninspiring, disengaging and out of date. Yet, at the time, there was simply no overlap between latest software advances and the MedTech industry.
The data was there, and so was the technology, but there was nowhere to collect and process that information for analysis and use. This became the original idea for our platform. We would create a place that could share data and make the latest software advances more meaningful to the MedTech industry.
The Tao of Excellence platform is designed to share meaningful and accurate data for medical device manufactures. We understand that a graph is likely to be of limited interest or use to industry operators. In the vast, specialised and fast-paced field of medical devices, manufactures need to be able to not only see and continuously monitor the bigger picture, but also its specific details.
Manufactures want to be able to interact with the information available. To build and explore data sets that are relevant to their business—including their own data—and work within an assessible and well-designed environment.
In turn, how our clients use this platform will determine its development and shape the future of software tools for the MedTech industry.
This is a particularly interesting time to be working in this field and for this sector. The creation and integration of new virtual tools in the MedTech industry—collecting and processing fresh and previously unseen data sets—will impact people’s lives for the better. The accuracy, clarity and availability of this data will affect the development of our current and future medical devices and the treatment of patients. It is technology that has the capacity to keep his people healthy and save lives.
If you would like access our MedTech platform, explore the medical devices market and drive insight for your own company’s data and product portfolio, or for more information on our services and how we can help your business, contact The Tao of Excellence today for a consultation.
Yannik Messerli
Phone
+41 52 685 51 65
Email
[email protected]
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