Developing spine devices: How to build a foundation for the business

At the Becker’s 21st Annual Ambulatory Surgery Center Conference in Chicago, Kingsley R. Chin, MD, an orthopedic and spine surgeon and president and CEO, Chief Technology Officer of SpineFrontier, gave a presentation titled “The Business Challenges to Develop Spinal Implants for Outpatient Surgery.”

“The business challenges from the competitive landscape is pricing pressures facing ASC,” said Dr. Chin. “We need to know who to speak with about the technology, whether to invest in the technology and whether the technology will make the procedure better.”

The spine device market is dominated by 10 large companies, but many of those products aren’t able to be used in outpatient procedures. Dr. Chin decided to focus his technology on making spine surgery better in the outpatient ASC setting.

“To truly compete in the outpatient arena, you have to be able to afford to invest in your operations,” he said. “You have to understand who the decision maker is. Can you partner with the ASC administrator to get to the corporate level so they will contract with you. Surgeons are also becoming part of the decision making process, so partnerships with physicians are also important.”

Other important considerations include:

  • Whether to invest in technology or distribution, or both
  • How to keep costs low without compromising quality
  • How to partner with ASCs
  • Whether to market to patients

“The patient is ultimately the consumer and the consumer is in the power,” said Dr. Chin. “But you can also go straight to ASCs and educate them on why they should partner with you. We are focused on developing technologies for improved outcomes and better cost savings.”

The device market is challenging and dynamic. There are new and evolving demands that require the ability to change decisions made in the past, but Dr. Kingsley still feels there is benefit in the outpatient setting.

“There are less restrictions in the outpatient market and surgeons are empowered to make decisions,” he said. “We believe that there will be a need for new techniques and technologies for the outpatient setting. Surgeons can’t bringing what they do to the ASC and expect the same process as in the hospital. We believe the real change starts with the techniques and technologies and patients truly want less invasive surgery.”

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