Medical Design Briefs - January 2022 - 7

Accelerating and Sustaining Growth
What are the dynamics that a medical
device company great? While industry
leader Medtronic has had a successful
formula for more than 70 years, it's the
evolution of that formula that has driven
the company forward. The company's
key markets include cardiovascular,
medical-surgical, neuroscience, and diabetes.
The cardiovascular portfolio
includes cardiac rhythm and heart failure
products. A deep dive into this segment
of the company's overall busi ness
helps illustrate how the company is
" poised to accelerate and sustain
growth. " Michael Meissner, vice president
and general manager of Medtronic's
CRM Patient Management, shares
insights into the medtech giant's CRM
strategies as well as the objectives and
visions that continue to drive the company's
growth and success.
Meissner joined Medtronic because of its
industry-leading portfolio. Medtronic was the
first to introduce cardiac remote monitoring
in the United States in 2002, and since then,
the technology has evolved and become even
easier to use. It is also the first company to
offer app-based remote monitoring for its
entire portfolio of devices, including pacemakers,
implantable cardioverter-defibrillators
(ICDs), and cardiac
resynchronization
therapy
d e v i c e s
(CRTs), said
Meissner.
" The app-based technology puts the power
of healthcare directly into the hands of
patients, giving them more control and
peace of mind, " he said. " I lead a team that
supports this important work - work that
can help patients live better lives. We are constantly
thinking about what's next and how
we can enhance our systems and technologies
to further improve quality of life for our
patients. "
Medtronic is focused on alleviating pain,
restoring health, and extending life. This mission
" has guided the company for decades, "
said Medtronic Chairman and CEO Geoffrey
Martha. Martha spoke at the Morgan Stanley
Global Healthcare Conference in September
2021. " Our top priority here is sustainable,
accelerated revenue growth at or above our
end markets, " he said, adding that this strategy
also helped guide the company through
the pandemic.
" We saw that the pandemic really accelerated
the adoption and growth of cardiac
rhythm technologies, " said Meissner. " While
there was interest in remote monitoring in
the past, its usage had somewhat plateaued
before the pandemic. COVID-19 created a
much greater need to care for patients in
their homes, and remote monitoring quickly
came to the forefront of patient care because
of how it aligned with the safety protocols
required to minimize exposure to the virus
and preserve personal protective equipment
for clinicians. "
Fast forward through the COVID-19 pandemic,
and now millions of heart device
patients benefit from remote technologies,
connected by smart apps, allowing doctors to
monitor and manage their heart conditions
wherever they are. " And this comes by way of
a smartphone that sits right in their bag or
pocket, " said Meissner. " Remote technology
also allows for telehealth and/or drivethrough
care at clinics, which was a big plus
during the pandemic, and it delivers alerts
that can increase care response times and
save lives. "
As the world moves past the pandemic and
looks toward the future, Meissner said the benefits
of remote monitoring won't disappear.
" It will continue to be incredibly beneficial
for patients as they look to understand their
health status and the status of their implanted
device, " he said. " We're going to see this technology
continue to grow and serve patients,
which is the ultimate goal. "
Setting Itself Apart
Over the past year, Medtronic implemented
a series of transformational, structural,
and cultural changes, including cutting costs,
moving to a nimbler operating unit structure,
and eliminating stocking to " unlock the value
of the company. "
Eliminating the stocking orders, said
Martha, has been " massive " for Medtronic.
" And it gives us visibility into utilization that
we didn't have before. We do a large stocking
order in a quarter, and it takes a couple of
weeks for the health systems to burn through
that. And now we don't have to deal with that
dynamic, " said Martha. " We have visibility in
utilization. It also improves the accountability
of our businesses. We can hold our sales
teams accountable. "
But the big cultural change is what Martha
called " the Medtronic mindset. " " This is competing
harder and taking bigger bets. We're
seeing it play out in a number of our businesses, "
he said.
Michael Meissner,
Vice President and
General Manager
Medtronic CRM
Patient Management
" I am passionate about using technology
to bring new and innovative solutions
to solve healthcare challenges. I bring
broad technical and managerial
experience in software development,
operations, and technology products to
A patient's mobile device uses Bluetooth® Low
Energy to securely transfer heart device data
to a patient's clinic via the MyCareLink Heart
mobile app. (Credit: Medtronic)
Medical Design Briefs, January 2022
Cov
my current role as Vice President and General
Manager of Patient Management within the Cardiac
Rhythm Management (CRM) business at Medtronic. "
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Medical Design Briefs - January 2022

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