In the field with Medacta

At a glance

• Robotics solutions have emerged at the forefront of innovation in medicine, particularly for specific surgical procedures like joint replacement.
• Medacta, an established medical device company specializing in minimally invasive and personalized solutions for hip, knee, sports medicine and spine surgery, was under pressure to respond. Should the company’s strategic focus expand to include robotics solutions? And if so, would that lead to better clinical outcomes?
• Medacta chose to honor its DNA of continuous sustainable innovation by delivering improved surgical outcomes for patients and value for healthcare providers, and by directly supporting these propositions through surgeon education and collaboration.

Swiss-based medical device company Medacta entered the 2020s surfing a wave of success, consistently outperforming the competition in sales growth. Much of its success hinged on the company’s innovation in minimally invasive and personalized solutions, such as kinematic alignment in knee replacement and the AMIS technique (Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery) in hip replacement. Yet the large-scale arrival of robotics presented Medacta’s leadership with a fork in the road. As market hype surrounding robotics solutions grew by the day, the idea of using robots in surgery climbed to the top of the priority list for hospital administrators and patients alike; these new practices promised immaculate precision and execution that could deliver substantial benefits. In terms of implementation, however, a variety of uncertainties remained.

Considering that Medacta was not a robotics-native player, the trend posed some tough questions: Should it revise its existing focus, which had historically revolved around minimally invasive techniques? Was robotics a classic big bet worth placing, for fear of losing its competitive edge? What should the company stop doing, and what was it well advised to continue doing to solidify its track record of innovation and success?

The broader issue

There is innovation, and there is jumping on the bandwagon – or the next S-curve. The macro factors driving the implementation of robotics in surgery were plain to see: a rapid adoption of medical technology advancements, an aging population increasingly in need of joint replacement procedures, and rising demand for less invasive but more precise surgical interventions.

Refusing wholesale to engage with this long-term trend could be self-defeating. So, if engagement and participation were on the cards, what were the best parameters? In line with its DNA, Medacta would incorporate robotics into its solutions only where it could strengthen patient outcomes, ideally while also generating cost savings for healthcare systems. For Medacta, taking up the robotics mantle responsibly and sustainably over the medium and long term ultimately means adding tangible value for the patient.

In the meantime, deploying robots in operating theaters came with pros and cons. For hospitals, robotic arms were costly to obtain and presented a host of technical and operating constraints. Improvements in recovery times and cost savings were not materializing consistently enough. For solution developers, high investment requirements coupled with uncertain ROI rates kept the promise of robotics stuck in niche territory.

A new approach

With momentous shifts in demand from the company’s target market, Medacta’s senior executives understood that they had to tackle the change from a place of stability, without discarding what had stood the business in good stead for the previous 25 years. Our discussions with Medacta’s management brought to light its uniquely patient-centric legacy: The firm was founded by a patient frustrated with his experience of scheduling and receiving hip replacement surgery and keen to shake up the status quo that had emerged around this type of medical procedure.

Medacta’s persistent pursuit of responsible innovation had meant not only keeping abreast of regulations but going above and beyond what was required, sometimes keeping products in limited release pending better alignment with clinical needs. Throughout, it had invested in medical education. Learning outcomes would disseminate and sustain innovation in real-world hospital settings, shaping new behaviors and solving surgeons’ day-to-day problems. Innovation for Medacta was not a matter of “here’s a new product, use it,” but rather of enhancing processes and workflows for the benefit of all participants – hospitals, doctors and patients. This was the approach that Medacta had always taken in its pursuit of minimally invasive procedures.

Consequently, embracing robotics was not an all-or-nothing choice. The company set about exploring courses of action that would not carry an eight-digit price tag or demand an overhaul of its internal capabilities. Instead, it chose pathways that would facilitate an ongoing integration of robotics technology within its broader portfolio of advanced orthopedic and surgical solutions – on the pre-surgical planning side and the execution side. Medacta built on its success in developing minimally invasive procedures, entered into strategic partnerships, launched augmented reality (AR) surgical platforms and made better use of data analytics, including AI-driven analytics, in personalized medicine.

Did it work?

Today’s medicine is increasingly becoming “one-size-fits-one.” During our fieldwork, we established that Medacta’s approach to innovation was rooted in effecting continuous improvements, drawing on a wealth of deep experience and investing in real-world clinical application.

Sticking to its organizational commitment to deliver value through superior patient outcomes, Medacta has been actively deploying personalized products, surgical plans and surgeon training, all of which work to better predict and reduce potential complications.

Through improved planning, dedicated instruments such as AR- and VR-powered tools and hands-on surgeon education and collaboration, the company is continuing to explore robotics systems and robotic execution within patient-specific scenarios, procedures and experience, as well as medical practitioner guidance and complex case management.

Takeaways

Thanks to its solid commitment to innovation and sustainable growth in the orthopedic industry, Medacta has further strengthened its established hip and knee portfolios while driving growth in the shoulder, spine and sports medicine segments. The company has its sights set on becoming the global leader in joint replacement.

Studies by IMD have documented that many businesses approach innovation with a murky mandate of “disrupt the industry,” without clear guidance on how to match these innovation goals with company strategy and broader social, economic and customer trends. Once that ambiguity has been allowed to set in, there is no shortage of exciting projects that fail to support actual strategic priorities.

By clearly defining the areas where innovation efforts should be focused and, in tandem, identifying the core strengths that would provide stability amid change, Medacta’s leaders were able to allocate resources effectively and prioritize specific initiatives to respond to a significant industry trend without muddying the company’s long-term strategy and patient-centric, personalized approach.

This article is based on IMD case IMD-2663 available from The Case Centre at www.thecasecentre.org.

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