Successfully Navigating Cost Barriers to Deliver Low Cost Connectivity to the Pharmaceutical Industry

Nearly half of all adults currently manage one or more chronic health conditions for which are no cures, but are managed through daily medication and/or treatment. However, in situations where the patient is unable to successfully adhere to a medication regimen, unexpected costs of Emergency Room (ER) visits and hospitalizations may cost tens of thousands of dollars per year, per patient.  According to the Journal of American Medical Association, unmanaged hypoglycemic events among diabetes patients cost over $5 Billion per year. Connected medical devices, which allow tracking of medication and communication between patient and physician, is an important and emerging technology to minimize the costs of unmanaged health conditions. Connected devices may also be leveraged to monitor key biometrics in high-risk patient populations for injections diseases, including COVID-19. While patient acceptance of connected devices is improving, high costs associated with converting a traditional medical device to a connected medical device have remained a barrier to adoption of this technology.

In delivering low-cost connectivity to the pharmaceutical industry, it will be possible to (i) help patients and payers save significantly through better management of chronic health conditions, (ii) allow pharmaceutical companies to ensure patients take all medication as prescribed and (iii) assist physicians in improving patient healthcare outcomes and quality of life. Current research demonstrates that design and selection of connected health device components is a major driver in incremental costs associated with connectivity, but that it is possible to drive these costs down through selection of components that deliver value to the patient at low unit cost. Partnering with Contract Design and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMO’s) that have an integrated model of cross-functional development and manufacturing helps the pharmaceutical industry in attaining low-cost connectivity in pharmaceutical and medical devices with as little as $0.75 per unit additional cost, making connectivity an economically viable pathway for the pharmaceutical industry, patients and healthcare payers.

Speaker

Chris Conger, Director – Connected Health Device Technology, Phillips-Medisize

Chris Conger has served as director of connected health device technology and director of technology development for Phillips-Medisize Corporation, LLC (PM) since February 2014. Conger holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. He has spent the entirety of his 33-year tenure in the medical device industry. He has also served in design and management roles in three hearing aid companies.

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