Selling Connectivity – New Knowledge
The most striking lesson that I’ve experienced, and witnessed repeatedly, is that when it comes to connectivity, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” This applies to providers (buyers) as much as it does vendors (sellers). When presented with a new problem, it’s human nature to apply current knowledge and mental models in search of a solution – thus the perennial appeal of the “intuitively obvious.” Intellectually we know that problems don’t all fall into the same logical framework. But, for various reasons we tend to apply known solutions to new problems, and only when the outcome is unacceptable do we contemplate the unknown. Decision making insanity aside, this typical approach is inefficient – or worse.
The barrier to effectively applying the intuitively obvious to connectivity results from fundamental differences between embedded system devices (i.e., conventional stand alone medical instruments) and the methods and technologies used for connectivity (i.e., general purpose computing technologies). This dichotomy in the application of the different technologies used in both embedded systems and connectivity, extends from product design to regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, sales, installation, service and support. For the vendor, the entire business delivery system is affected. Provider processes – needs assessment, vendor selection, implementation and ongoing internal support – are impacted as well by these differences.
So how are embedded systems different from connectivity? Embedded systems embody the following concepts:
An Assessment of Wireless Medical Telemetry System (WMTS)
The archetypal wireless medical device is the telemetry monitor for measuring electrocardiographs . First introduced in the 1970s, cardiac telemetry systems were pretty straight forward. Analog signals were transmitted with each telemetry transmitter/receiver using its own dedicated channel. Medical device vendors placed ceiling mounted antennas connected with coaxial cable back to central radio frequency (RF) transmitter/receivers in a wiring closet. There were no other wireless medical devices. Nor were there any wireless LANs – or even wired local area networks, for that matter.
A lot has changed in almost 30 years – I mean besides feeling older.
The nirvana that was the 1970s came to an abrupt end on February 27, 1998 at 2:17 pm, when, “WFAA-TV channel 8 television began broadcasting on digital TV channel 9 and continued until 10:35 p.m., shutting down transmission a few times to allow a tower crew to work on the antenna.” This and subsequent tests of digital television broadcasts by the Dallas broadcaster, knocked Baylor University Medical Center’s (BUMC) telemetry off the air. Fallout from this intentional (and completely legal) interference resulted in the creation of the new WMTS frequencies for use by telemetry monitors. Between that fateful day in 1998 and 2006, BUMC has spent $6.6 million shifting frequency and upgrading the telemetry systems at their hospitals. (You can read about BUMC’s ordeal reprinted from the AAMI publication Biomedical Instrumentaiton and Technology Journal story on this FDA web page.)
Selling Connectivity – A Series
I’ve written much in the past about the technical and product development issues of connectivity. Just as important are the issues that revolve around successfully selling your connectivity solution. (If you’re a provider reading this, this should provide a bit of insight into how to buy connectivity, and why sometimes vendors to the crazy things they do.)
You can place two seemingly identical medical devices side by side, with the only visible difference being that one has an Ethernet connector and the other does not. That “small” change makes a world of difference when it comes to selling these two devices. Here’s my list of the areas where adding connectivity to a medical device changes almost everything:
- Required new knowledge
- Qualifying prospects
- Dealing with new decision makers (typically with veto power)
- Selling a solution, rather than selling the box
- Selling one-off systems, rather than cookie cutter widgets
- Aligning incentives
- Making it work, getting paid
- Keeping the customer happy, keeping the system working
- Customers want a whole product solution
