Payment & Reimbursement

The Virtual MedTech Conference provides the ideal environment for medical technology professionals to learn about and discuss new payment models, value based contracting reforms and private payer coverage requirements.

Below are just a few of the Payment & Reimbursement sessions that were offered at The MedTech Conference in 2019. The 2020 conference program will be available early this summer. 

View the 2019 full conference program

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CMS Town Hall

This session featured an open Q&A discussion amongst senior leaders from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Topics covered included developments pertaining to medical technologies including Medicare coverage, new payment models and patient access to new technologies.

Chasing Value: Understanding How to Work with GPOs to Introduce New Health Care Innovation in the Supply Chain

During this session, attendees heard from GPOs and suppliers who have worked with them on recent experience in medtech, industry trends, new innovation forums, diversity programs and value based initiatives to foster optimal, high quality health care. This was an excellent opportunity to learn from experts across the supply chain how they have successfully worked together and launched new innovations with group purchasing organizations. Successful partnership and best practices were explored in this highly informative session.

What Do Hospital Administrators Really Want?

Hospital mergers and acquisitions, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), integrated delivery networks (IDNs), accountable care organizations (ACOs) and Value-Added Committees (VACs) have high expectations that their hospital administrators (HA) skill sets are growing in sophistication. The impact on traditional medical device/diagnostic sales and marketing strategies is profound and keeping up with HA learning curves and expectations can be difficult. What are the most recent trends in HA decision-making processes and how can we integrate those into our own sales and marketing programs? How can medical device companies appeal to the economic buyer and:

• Create meaningful value propositions for disruptive medtech products?
• Integrate advances in technology and analytics and leapfrog the competition?
• Identify buyer segments that will respond to a strong clinical value proposition?
• Arm a clinical champion with the tools needed to grow HA interest?

This panel will consist of a moderator and three or four HA leaders. Why was this session appealing to attendees at The MedTech Conference?

Although the pace of consolidation has slowed, hospitals continue to evolve into larger health systems, including payers, outpatient clinics, specialty services, long-term care and physician owned practices. Especially significant is the joining of payers and providers, which will present a challenge to device makers in the future. Economic pressures will continue to grow in hospitals and will be passed down the chain to the medical device community. Collaborating with our HA customers to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs will become an essential part of our medtech strategies. 

Value Based Health Care in Action: Enhancing Patient Outcomes and Managing Costs

This panel discussed practical implementation of Value Based Health Care (VBHC) programs, rather than only the theory behind it. What can you do to ensure you and your organization are aware of, and leveraging, this fundamental paradigm shift in health care delivery? Prioritizing the patient as the center of the health care equation is arguably the core reason VBHC is becoming the norm for improving health care systems. It involves measuring outcomes that matter to patients and total costs of delivering those outcomes. This panel discussed case studies from the US and Europe and examined these core principles from an international perspective.

Key topics for discussion include:

• Evidence requirements for VBHC implementation
• Examples of where and why a detailed understand of the patient pathway is crucial 
• Pragmatic examples of where VBHC has been implemented 
• Key challenges that arise when implementing VBHC 
• Suggestions for overcoming these challenges 

Articulating the Value of Diagnostics: Moving Toward Value Based Approaches

The term “value” in health care has been difficult to define, yet stakeholders – from diagnostic test developers, to payers, to hospitals and health systems – are constantly seeking high value products and services that improve health outcomes for patients in clinical and cost-effective ways. However, the ability to define value is critical, particularly as the health care world moves toward more value based approaches to care delivery and reimbursement. This panel presented a range of perspectives on defining value, developing clinical evidence to support value claims and contemplated value based approaches for diagnostics.

Emerging Issues Regarding the HCPCS Coding Process for Medical Devices

In the midst of first-of-its kind litigation challenging a Health Care Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding decision, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a number of changes to the coding process for 2019. This session addressed these changes, the litigation and the implications of these recent developments for companies.