Marketing a New Healthcare Technology

Marketing Analysis: Da Vinci Surgical Robot

According to its official website, Da Vinci Surgical Robot offers the opportunity for patients to have minimally invasive surgical procedures easily and effectively. However, although the technology is impressive, like all forms of new equipment, any new technological addition entails an additional expense for the institution. The most obvious aspect of this expense is the initial outlay of equipment. But there is also maintenance, updating, and training of staff to factor into the costs. Secondly, demand by patients must be evaluated. This includes the patient demographics, their insurance coverage, and the types of procedures enabled by the robot.

One uncomfortable aspect of healthcare marketing and calculating return on investment (ROI) is, as noted by Purcarea (2019), that even if there is a demand in a particular consumer segment, that does not necessarily mean that demographic is financially desirable. Medicaid and Medicare tend to offer lower reimbursement rates than private insurance. Thus, the type of procedures performed by Da Vinci should ideally be covered by the highest reimbursing insurances, as well as insurance providers held by the majority of hospital patients.

Finally, there should be demand for the procedures, versus alternatives (surgical and nonsurgical in nature)” “… the consumer becomes an indispensable factor for any service; the consumer interacts with the supplier, becomes co-provider of the service, participating with time and effort in the delivery process” (Purcarea, 2019, par.15). Although it might seem, on the surface, that healthcare procedures are necessary, with little choice on the part of the consumer, this is rarely the case. Consumers may make choices based upon available alternatives, a risk-benefit calculation as determined by both providers and insurance companies, and institutions purchasing new equipment must take that into consideration. Even the potential for marketing the equipment itself using social media, advertising, and physician outreach, must be a concern, as is true of any new procedure.