MDMA Election Panel Discusses Medical Device Industry Strategy

During this week’s annual meeting of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) in Washington, D.C., a panel of political strategists discussed the upcoming presidential election and combined the talk with some medtech spin.

Kevin Madden, chief advisor to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and Karen Finney, political analystfor MSNBC, gave a presentation on the political strategy and the state of the election. The session could not have been more timely: It was during a moment of encouraging bi-partisanship, seen in the passing of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration user fee legislation in the U.S. Senate and House with such overwhelming majorities. Madden and Finney’s discussion on the recent years of severe partisan politics had a backdrop of hope in light of the passage of the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act (MDUFMA).

One of the most pertinent questions from the audience came from Michael J. Daley, Ph.D., president of tiGenRx LLC based in New Hope, Pa. “They don’t trust us,” he said, not only of the consumer base for medical devices, but also the general public. “We save lives, we make money—but according to surveys, we’re right next to lawyers in terms of perceived trustworthiness. Twenty years ago, we were right at the top. We’re not the cause of excessive healthcare costs, but that is the perception.”

Using what he saw as his chance to glean from the expertise of two top political strategists, Daley asked them for their advice on a strategy to gain the public’s trust back in the medtech industry. “What can we do to elevate our image?” he asked.

“Remind customers, who are essentially your “base,” what their investment is and what your value is,” said Madden. “Remind them just what a device is and what goes into a routine healthcare visit, and what the cost would be otherwise.” Madden presented an economic argument, economics being a factor that causes bases to band together.
 
“Look at best practices from other industries,” he went on to say. “Big Oil have turned themselves into energy companies. They’re getting beyond just drilling and pulling petroleum out of the ground. They have new technologies, new ways to expand energy exploration. People are more willing to engage with that story.”
 
Reinvention does not have to be purely material. Rhetoric plays an important part, both Madden and Finney would agree. “They are personalizing that story,” explained Finney of Big Oil. “What does that mean for the people who utilize your products and services? When it isn’t personal, it’s easy to vilify a whole industry.”
 
It’s true, as one medtech industry worker who deals with D.C. policy making had said over lunch: “Public relations people have job security in the medical device industry.”
 
Another audience member wanted to hear Madden and Finney’s predictions and opinions on all the legislation surrounding the current administration’s Affordable Care Act.
 
“We still have the problem of what to do about health reform. There are people already in the new health care system,” Finney pointed out. “With re-legislation, what would happen to them?”
 
Re-legislation, both Finney and Madden agree, would be harmful to President Obama’s campaign—not to mention, people are tired of it. “Generally, people don’t want to re-litigate it,” Finney said.
 
A part of the Affordable Care Act that no one in the medtech industry wants to see materialize is the medical device excise tax set to begin in 2013. During MDMA’s Thursday sessions, a bill to repeal the 2.3 percent tax passed through the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee during a mark-up session with a vote of 23 to 11. Now, the bill is on its way to a floor vote. This is one piece of legislation everyone present certainly wants to see passed.