Device, software companies look to differentiate with data

Medical software and device manufactures alike have pinpointed the same asset as they look to expand and differentiate themselves in competitive markets—data.

Paul Black, CEO of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, cited the company’s payer and life sciences division as a business that distinguishes it from other electronic health record developers. The division, rebranded as Veradigm in 2018, serves as a source of de-identified patient data for biopharma research and sells analytics tools for providers.

Cerner Corp. CEO Brent Shafer also cited “data-as-a-service” as a substantial growth opportunity, calling out the company’s Learning Health Network, a project that collects de-identified patient data from systems including EHRs to share with researchers at health systems, universities and pharmaceutical and

life sciences companies.

Devicemakers have launched digital tools and pursued acquisitions to build up a portfolio of products that add analytics and artificial intelligence insights to their equipment.

Bryan Hanson, Zimmer Biomet's CEO, said his company plans to roll out a “smart implant” for joint replacements.

“It's going to be more difficult in the future for players to compete in this market,” Hanson said of orthopedic devices. “It's not just robotics—it's also the data informatics around robotics.”

Intuitive Surgical, the company credited with popularizing robotic surgery with its da Vinci system, is planning to create tools that help hospitals analyze data from their surgical systems.

Intuitive Surgical's CEO, Gary Guthart, said he doesn't expect to monetize those analytics tools. He said hospital administrators and surgeons are interested in purchasing products that improve surgical procedures—a desire the company can better tap into by offering data tools that inform operations.