December 28, 2023- Direct-to-consumer medical devices are what the market is demanding today. Educated, motivated, health-conscious and busy consumers are attracted to almost anything online, including home blood pressure equipment, glucose meters, in vitro tests and diagnostic wearables.
Jonathan Overbey, head of corporate alliances and channel management, Sekisui Diagnostics, believes that educated consumers will drive more traffic to the physicians’ office. “As we have seen in the cases of pregnancy testing and glucose testing, most professionals test again as the patient presents in their practice to confirm their OTC results. In my opinion, the DTC market complements the professional one and, in some cases, drives more efficiencies in testing and patient management.”
Distributors should consider the short-term and long-term opportunities of interacting with the DTC medical device market, says Ivashko. Short-term opportunities include presenting educational seminars, while long-term opportunities include supporting data-sharing capabilities with physicians in the rise of telemedicine.
“Under controlled conditions, manufacturer sales reps for prescription devices currently sponsor educational seminars for prospective patients of certain medical devices such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. Offering similar educational seminars to patients using equivalent DTC devices under the physician’s care can promote disease management in that patient population and will be a value-add to the physician. This would differentiate the distributor as a partner to the professional practice.
Learn More in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.