ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Medtech CEOs, investors, and reimbursement authorities share their views on the current state of medtech coding, coverage, and payment in the US and the EU, and tell us how AI and chatbots should be on product companies’ payment radar screens.
With reimbursement becoming the consensus leading issue facing medical device companies globally, it was fitting that this was a leading topic of discussion at the recent 19th annual Bohemian Medical Device Summit held in Rome in December. The conference, founded by MedTech Strategist, Sofinnova Partners, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, brings together senior industry executives to address key issues confronting the worldwide medtech industry.
The reimbursement panel convened an esteemed cross-section of medtech leaders who offered their perspectives on current challenges in coding, coverage, and payment confronting companies in the US and Europe. The panelists were Josh Makower, MD, who wore multiple hats as head of the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign program (where he launched a policy program the top current priority of which is reimbursement), along with serving as an advisory venture partner with Sofinnova Partners and heading the Exploramed incubator; Heather Simonsen, CEO of neuromodulation start-up Boomerang Medical, who previously ran PQ Bypass, which was acquired by Endologix; Robert Fletcher, VP of marketing for Shockwave Medical, the pioneering intravascular lithotripsy company recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $13 billion; and Joseph Ferrara, a long-time reimbursement expert and chief strategy officer with Veranex. (This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.)
