The 10 most important benefits of ERP systems – helping every company and every department take the next step. Learn more now!
Summary: Staff shortages, rising costs, and increasing competition can be tackled effectively with digital solutions. New treatment methods, miniaturization, eHealth, and homecare are shaping the MedTech sector, while ever-stricter regulations add further complexity. Digital trends, opportunities, and challenges – we take a closer look at how Digital Transformation is transforming medical technology.
The medical technology industry is a vital part of the healthcare sector – and it is undergoing profound change. In recent years, the industry has seen significant shifts. For companies, this means both challenges and opportunities.
The regulatory framework for companies in the medical technology industry is becoming increasingly strict and complex. A prime example is the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), which has been mandatory since 2021. This poses a particular challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as meeting the many stringent requirements ties up significant resources that are not always readily available.
The regulation’s purpose is clear: to ensure medical devices are manufactured and provided with maximum patient safety. Digital solutions and software systems can support this effort – but they too must comply with the strict requirements. Topics such as audit readiness, lot tracking, tamper-proof archiving, and unique device identification (UDI) are high on the agenda for companies in the MedTech sector.
Digital Transformation drives acceleration. This is positive – but in some areas of medical technology, it can also pose a challenge. Innovation cycles and product development are becoming faster and faster, while at the same time, regulatory requirements act as a brake. The result: noticeably rising competitive pressure.
Adding to this, more and more start-ups and new market entrants are challenging established players, further intensifying competition.
The issue is more pressing than ever: a shortage of skilled workers. Across nearly all industries, companies are struggling to find staff – but the challenge is especially critical in sectors tied to healthcare, such as medical technology.
Employers are increasingly tasked with attracting new employees to manage existing and additional responsibilities at the required pace. Another hurdle is employee turnover: new staff need extensive onboarding, which is often time-consuming and not always consistent. This can result in knowledge gaps, user errors, and compromises in maintaining internal quality standards.
Cost savings are a constant priority in the healthcare system. To leverage economies of scale and combine strengths, companies are forming alliances and networks. In addition, more players from emerging markets are entering the scene, putting an even stronger focus on cost optimization.
At the top of the agenda: the pressure to operate efficiently. For SMEs with limited resources, this can become a Herculean task. At the same time, the pace at which innovations are brought to market is accelerating rapidly. The pressure to keep up with this speed is immense.
To avoid falling behind, companies need to step on the gas. Digital Transformation? Undeniably helpful. But to benefit from it, implementation must first take place – a time factor that consumes additional resources in an already demanding daily business.
Improved healthcare, better access to food and water, and more effective ways of treating diseases mean that people are living longer on average. For society, this is an undeniable gain and positive news.
For the healthcare system and the medical technology industry, however, it is also a development that requires fresh ideas and new approaches.
Life is increasingly shifting toward urban centers. Demand for housing, retail, and medical services continues to move from rural areas into the cities.
But this lifestyle is not right for everyone. Many people prefer to remain outside the hustle and bustle of urban life – and are feeling the effects of thinning infrastructure. One particularly critical issue is medical care, which is becoming increasingly scarce in towns and communities outside major cities.
Many companies are turning to Digital Transformation, replacing manual processes with digital ones. The benefits are clear: saving time, reducing effort, and minimizing errors. To achieve this, software plays a key role. But beware – only the right solution delivers sustainable success.
For those considering Enterprise Resource Planning, it is essential that the system includes the functions relevant to the medical technology industry. At the same time, many MedTech products themselves are being enhanced with digital components – a major step toward the future.
However, to establish a lasting presence in the digital world, companies need a comprehensive digitalization strategy. And this is precisely what many are still lacking – along with the willingness to go paperless. Familiar routines and concerns about the audit security of digital solutions mean that some organizations continue to rely on traditional manual processes.
Most companies in the medical technology sector are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Rising prices and increasing effort pose particular challenges for them, as a large share of their financial resources must be invested in research and development.
They also feel the pressure of additional competition from new manufacturers. And always looming in the background: the high costs of product development. Together, these factors create significant barriers when it comes to adopting and implementing digital technologies.
Anything related to medical data is subject to extremely strict regulations – and rightly so. After all, this involves highly sensitive information that must never fall into the wrong hands. With the use of digital tools, the importance of this issue grows even further: companies are required to implement modern and highly secure standards when processing data across interfaces.
Hospitals and medical practices must comply fully with all data protection requirements. When it comes to security, this is not only necessary but beneficial. At the same time, however, these strict requirements make the use of digital medical technology more complex and challenging.
Digital Transformation makes many things easier – but it also raises concerns. Can surgical robots truly support surgeons successfully? Does AI evaluate captured data correctly and draw the right conclusions? Are sensitive health records really stored securely?
These are the kinds of questions that concern the public. The key lies in education: reducing fears while highlighting the opportunities. Until this is achieved, skepticism will remain a barrier to fully establishing Digital Transformation in the medical technology sector.
For companies in the medical technology sector, supply chain management is essential. It ensures they can always trace where a product is located, how long it will take to reach the patient, and how reliably a replacement can be provided in case of a complaint.
With the multitude of processes and products involved, however, this is anything but simple.
It is clear: the mountain of challenges is high. To tackle and successfully overcome them, many companies in the medical technology sector rely on Digital Transformation – unlocking a wealth of new potential.
Digital tools improve examination capabilities and increase precision – making diagnoses easier and more reliable.
Automated and digitally captured health data make it simpler to create accurate treatment plans and monitor them continuously.
Because digital solutions save time and reduce effort, medical care becomes not only faster and better, but also more affordable.
By combining information technology with medical technology, healthcare delivery becomes more effective – while manufacturers also gain efficiency.
Digital communication channels, also known as eHealth channels, connect doctors with each other as well as with patients. This improves collaboration and enables more targeted treatments.
Finding qualified staff is a growing challenge, and shortages are common. Digital options such as telemedicine help close the gap – reducing workload while giving physicians more time to treat a larger number of patients.
On-site hardware components and services can quickly become expensive. Digital solutions provide opportunities to lower costs, ensuring that even small companies can remain competitive in the long term.
Digital medical technology and its future perspectives have many facets. Some of the most significant are:
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers enormous potential for digital medical technology. Intelligent, self-learning machines are designed to support the creation of diagnoses, the early detection of diseases, and the planning of treatments.
AI assists physicians in evaluating ultrasound and CT scans and makes patient monitoring easier. By automatically capturing medical data, AI enhances treatment plans and outcomes. In addition, AI makes it possible to capture, process, and evaluate large data sets – the so-called big data – efficiently and accurately.
Electronic Health, or simply eHealth, shifts medical interactions that once required face-to-face meetings into the digital space. The most common example: telemedicine, where a physician assesses a patient’s condition via webcam.
Portable ultrasound devices make it possible to create images in an ambulance and transfer them directly to the hospital. Online appointment scheduling is also becoming increasingly popular.
The advantages of eHealth are clear: diagnostics become not only simpler but faster, consultations are more personalized, and therapies are better planned and more efficient.
Implanted sensors, wearables, and specialized apps automatically capture health data in real time. These tools fall under mobile health, or mHealth – healthcare solutions that can be used independent of location.
They present great opportunities for monitoring pacemakers, blood sugar levels, or blood pressure. All of these tools make everyday life safer and more convenient for patients. mHealth also enables direct digital communication with physicians.
Robots are already being used in operating rooms, particularly where extreme precision is required. Beyond that, clinics and practices connect their own devices through software and integrate third-party equipment via interfaces.
Capturing and processing patient data digitally makes it possible to create tailored medical products. Already today, 3D printing can be used to produce prosthetics and joints, helping to prepare surgeries. Looking to the future, the vision is even bolder: printing transplantable organs.
Digital Transformation, with all its facets, has already taken firm root in the medical technology industry – and its presence continues to grow.
In the past, ultrasound machines involved high one-time costs and were tied to a fixed location. Today, mobile, app-based devices can be rented for a monthly fee and used flexibly on the go.
Another prominent example is the early detection of aneurysms. General practitioners measure pulse curves in patients’ hands and feet. An algorithm evaluates the data and predicts the probability of an aortic aneurysm.
Digital Transformation also holds enormous potential for cancer treatment. In tumor diagnostics, well-trained AI models are already being used with impressive precision – in some cases surpassing the human eye. Based on CT scans and lab results, algorithms assess tumor size, tissue structure, and composition. Another algorithm estimates the likely survival time of a patient and indicates how successful a therapy is likely to be.
Patients who rely on cochlear implants can also expect significant advances. Using CT scans to show the size of the cochlea, algorithms analyze the patient’s hearing profile. Combining both data sets produces a recommendation for customizing the implant.
A wide range of opportunities stands alongside just as many obstacles. So what now? How can companies balance both and unlock the potential of Digital Transformation? The answer is simple: with the right partner who brings the necessary expertise, and with ERP software tailored specifically to the medical technology industry. Fortunately, that’s exactly what our industry solution Yaveon 365 delivers.
The world is changing – and the medical technology industry is no exception. Companies are facing issues such as regulation, Digital Transformation, competition, staff shortages, and urbanization. Each of these areas holds great potential while at the same time being fraught with challenges. The key lies in turning obstacles into opportunities and unlocking the potential they bring. More accurate diagnoses, improved healthcare delivery, bridging personnel gaps, and reducing costs are just some of the additional opportunities waiting to be seized.
But how can these goals be achieved? A proven, future-proof way forward is software. In most cases, it is an ERP system that provides the foundation for building an entire ecosystem of applications, interfaces, and apps within the Microsoft 365 landscape – enabling MedTech companies to position themselves securely for the future.
Yet challenges remain. An ERP solution only delivers real value if it includes all the critical functions. The secret lies in choosing the right industry-specific system, paired with a software partner who brings the necessary expertise.
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