Medical Device Marketing and Reimbursement Conference

Examining the Best Practices in Strategic Medical Device Marketing,
Emphasizing Market Segmentation, Communicating Value of the
Device and Managing Reimbursement and Device Coverage Challenges

September 10-11, 2007
Chicago, IL

At the recent Medical Device Marketing conference that took place September 10-11 in Chicago at the AMA Executive Conference Center, attendees were excited about the opportunity to meet and network with other high level executives facing similar challenges.  In a dynamic industry characterized by strong growth and innovation, marketing teams need to hit the ground running once products are approved, and truly transform themselves from tactical to strategic marketing organizations.

Sessions & Feedback Included:

Best Practices in Motivating Consumers to Purchase Medical Devices
Michael Kujak
Vice President, Marketing
Restore Medical
*As the lead-off speaker for this program, Michael Kujak presented an important session related to patient motivators in the purchase of medical devices.  Bringing his wealth of industry experience to the table, Michael was able to address a range of issues and present valuable supporting data for his strategies within Restore Medical.  Attendees commented that his session was extremely well presented, balancing both tactical and strategic marketing concepts.

Medical Device Marketing: What can we learn from Pharmaceutical Marketing?
Blair Allen
Director of Marketing
Boston Scientific CRM
*Coming from a perspective having worked both in the Pharmaceutical and now Medical Device industry, Blair Allen’s presentation focused on lessons learned from marketing Pharmaceuticals and showed methods for translating those strategies across to the Medical Device industry.  Attendees found this session to be very thorough and commented on the wide knowledge base from which Blair was able to present. 

Workshop: Marketing Medical Devices to Patients
Mark Summers                            Michael Vogt
President and CEO                      Creative Director
ThreeWire                               ThreeWire
*In the closing workshop on the first day of the conference, attendees delved into the important topic of marketing devices directly to patients.  Following the in-depth case study from Jennifer George of Arthrocare, the ThreeWire team covered a range of important topics, from interactive tools to help plan DTP marketing campaigns to patient outreach campaigns and media planning and buying strategies.  Many attendees commented on the tremendous learning opportunity that this session provided, and felt that many of the strategies had immediate applications back at their offices.

Examining the Impact of Marketing Teams in Evolving Organizational Structures
John Treace
Vice President, Sales & Marketing
Wright Medical Technologies
*Having worked in a variety of companies at various stages of growth and development, John Treace presented a valuable session for those companies currently developing and growing out their sales and marketing teams.  Presenting a range of important strategies for marketing teams, John was a very valuable addition to the program content as he covered topics from when to hire a marketing head, to the impact of marketing on a growing organization.

Understanding the Importance of Marketing & Commercialization Strategies to Investors
Tom Cox
Managing Director
Seneca Partners
*Building upon the session presented by John Treace, Tom Cox presented a venture capitalists’ perspective on the importance of a strong marketing plan as organizations seek out venture capital funds.  Through understanding the motivators of VC companies, attendees will be better prepared to present their strategies in order to garner venture capital funding.