ARTICLE SUMMARY:
As health systems continue to cut medical device-related costs, and orthopedic implants – under pressure as one of the highest Medicare expenditures – become more commoditized, device manufacturers in the ortho space are continuing to build strategic value and scale through megamergers and bolt-on acquisitions. But how prepared are they to help provide solutions in a healthcare environment facing unparalleled change?
The orthopedics market, while one of the largest sectors in the medical device industry, also happens to be among the most challenging. The joint reconstruction space in particular is maturing, and looking at the portfolios of the big players and even the smaller niche players, they are very similar, with few disruptive-type technologies standing out from the pack. In tandem with this, payors around the world are becoming unsustainably stretched, and thus price pressure in orthopedics is building.
