Medical device companies must adapt to the sweeping changes in the managed care industry. Many purchasing and sales activities are increasingly being made by mangers of HMO's, preferred provider organizations, large hospital consortiums, government agencies, and managed care providers. Medical device companies will need to adapt to these changes and implement effective selling programs to market their products to these powerful buyers. As aforementioned above, international sales are growing very fast for the industry despite the slowdown in Asian markets. Therefore, the industry has not witnessed any considerable downturn with international sales.
Sales are heavily dependent on population trends such as the age of patients.
Sales are most impacted by the amount of change in the managed care industry. Sweeping changes in the HMO business can result in rising or falling earnings. The industry is also impacted by consumer product safety legislation.