This is lesson 1.2.2, the Unique Need for Medical Technology Assessment.
In the previous lesson,
we discussed the potential users or stakeholders for medical technology assessment.
In this lesson, we'll discuss why medical technology assessment is necessary.
So you may be asking, why not just take a general marketing or strategy course?
Isn't technology assessment just another application of a new product pricing exercise?
Can't I just set up a focus group,
talk to patients and determine what they're willing to pay and set a price?
Or alternatively, you may be wondering,
aren't there people that I can just hire to do this stuff?
Well, the answer to the first question is no.
In the medical technology industry,
it's not just another application of pricing of product.
And a focus group is one way of collecting
data or there may be other ways to assess willingness to pay.
But it's important to understand the context of prices and
selling medical technology before any type of technology assessment can be done.
Additionally, there are people that you can hire to do this stuff but it depends
who you hire and it's important to know what
to expect from them and what you're getting for what you pay for.
Hopefully this class will help answer all of those questions.
So the reason that you can't just hire somebody to
do this without knowing anything about what they're going to do.
And it's not as simple as just pricing a product and selling it on the market,
is that medical technology,
because of the complex context in which there is
government regulation and numerous private industry stakeholders involved,
requires an interdisciplinary approach.
There's elements of economics, law, epidemiology, statistics,
knowledge of pharmacology or biologic responses, medicine, nursing,
and allied health professionals,
both in the type of care they give and how their industries or professions are regulated.
Biology, physics or chemistry,
computer science and engineering,
management and finance, and risk and insurance theory.
Because of all of these various factors involved,
and many of them applying to
a single technology assessment depending on what the product is,
a technology assessment can be a complex but important,
element of bringing any new product to market.
Continuing to market or sell the product and
understanding how patients and allied health professionals,
doctors or any other health profession uses the product
which can then inform what other types of
improvements or additional products need to be developed.
So we can briefly summarize that technology evaluation,
and then, throughout the course discuss all of these elements in more detail.
It's important to know what the technology or compound is and how it works.
So, if it's a drug,
is it a pill or a tablet?
How many times is it taken?
And who is eligible to take it?
So, is it for the entire population with a condition or a very specific population?